Manfred Kanther (born 26 May 1939 in Schweidnitz,

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

) is a German conservative politician and was Minister of the Interior of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

from 1993 to 1998. He has been a member of the CDU (since 1958).

Life and education

After passing his Abitur in 1958, Kanther studied law in

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approxima ...

and

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

, finishing in 1966. During his studies, he became a member of the fraternity ''Corps Guestphalia Marburg'' (today called ''Corps Guestphalia et Suevoborussia Marburg''). From 1967 to 1970 Kanther held the position of ''Stadtoberrechtsrat'' in

Plettenberg Plettenberg (; Westphalian: ''Plettmert'') is a town in the Märkischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Plettenberg is located to the west of the Sauerland hills. The highest elevation of the town area is in the ''Ebbegebir ...

. Manfred Kanther is married and has six children.

Political life

Kanther was a member of the Hessian state parliament from 1974 to 1993. In July 1993 he resigned from the Hessian Landtag and assumed as Minister of the Interior as the successor of

Rudolf Seiters Rudolf Seiters (born 13 October 1937 in Osnabrück) is a German politician of the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) party. From 1989–1991, he was Federal Minister for Special Affairs and the Head of the Office of the German Chancellery. From ...

. The same year he ordered the prohibition of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) for attacks against Turkish facilities. During his tenure he had to deal with violence of the

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (RAF, ; , ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang (, , active 1970–1998), was a West German far-left Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group founded in 1970. The ...

and opposed the dual citizenship. In 1994, he was elected into the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...

as representative for Hanau ballot. The Government of

Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...

was narrowly re-elected and he assumed a second term as Minister of the Interior. He was involved in reforms for the policy regarding the asylum seekers and a for foreigners minor to sixteen years old, a compulsory visa was introduced. He re-entered the Bundestag in 1998 via the CDU's statewide candidate ballot. Manfred Kanther was involved in the 2000 donation scandal of the Hessian CDU and stepped down from the

in January 2000. In April 2005, Kanther was sentenced to 18 months on

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

by the Landgericht Wiesbaden for acting in unfaithfulness. The Bundesgerichtshof, however, declared the sentence void in late 2006 and sent the case back to the Landgericht Wiesbaden for further hearings. His sentence was subsequently reduced to a fine of 54,000 €.

References

Members of the Bundestag for Hesse Interior ministers of Germany Members of the Bundestag 1998–2002 Members of the Bundestag 1994–1998 People from Świdnica 1939 births Living people Members of the Landtag of Hesse Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany {{Germany-CDU-politician-stub