Markus Meckel (born 18 August 1952) is a German

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

. He was the penultimate foreign minister of the GDR and a member of the German

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 Comm ...

Early life

Markus Meckel was born on 18 August 1952 in Müncheberg,

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...

. He had to leave high school in 1969 for political reasons. From 1969 to 1971, he studied at ''Kirchenoberseminar Hermannswerder'', a boarding school operated by the church whose diploma allowed its students to study theology or sacred music only. From 1971 to 1978, Meckel studied theology in

Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018 ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

Political career

Meckel had already been involved with domestic opposition to the East German Communist regime since the 1970s. In October 1989, he initiated the establishment of the

Social Democratic Party in the GDR The Social Democratic Party in the GDR (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei in der DDR) was a reconstituted Social Democratic Party existing during the final phase of East Germany. Slightly less than a year after its creation it merged with its Wes ...

(SDP) together with Martin Gutzeit. From 23 February 1990 up to the merger with the West German SPD on 27 September 1990, he was deputy SDP party chairman. After the resignation of Ibrahim Böhme, he was acting chairman from 26 March to 10 June 1990. In the GDR's first free elections in March 1990, Meckel was elected to Parliament. On 12 April 1990, he became the

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

of Prime Minister

Lothar de Maizière Lothar de Maizière (; born 2 March 1940) is a German Christian Democratic politician. In 1990, he served as the only premier of the German Democratic Republic to be democratically elected freely and fairly by the people. He was also the last l ...

( CDU). In his term of office, he frequently worked with Hans Dietrich Genscher, as he was one of the representatives of the two German states during the ''Two Plus Four Negotiations'' with the victors of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

over a Final Peace Treaty. It was this treaty which paved the way to the reunification of Germany. On 20 August 1990, Meckel, together with the Social Democratic ministers, withdrew from the cabinet. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was taken over by de Maizière himself. After Germany was reunified on 3 October 1990, Meckel became a member of German Bundestag. From 1992 to 1994 he was spokesperson of the SPD parliamentary group in the historical commission on the aftermath of the SED dictatorship in Germany. From 1994 onwards, he served as one of the spokespeople for the SPD's delegation in a related group dealing with the effects of the East German dictatorship on the German process of reunification. In the Bundestag, Meckel focuses on European politics and German-Polish relations. Furthermore, since 1994 he is the chairman of the German-Polish Parliamentary Group. Since 1998 he is director/conductor of the German parliamentary delegation to NATO. From November 2000 until November 2002, he was vice-president of the parliamentary assembly of NATO. Meckel is an advisory chairman of the Foundation for the Processing of the SED Dictatorship and besides member of the adviser of the Federal Authority for the Processing of GDR State Intelligence Files/BStU.

Other activities

* Walther Rathenau Institute, Member of the Advisory BoardAdvisory Board
Walther Rathenau Institute. *

Global Panel Foundation Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

, Member of the Board of Directors

Personal life

Markus Meckel was married twice and has six children. He is involved with the charitable work of the Protestant Church.

Awards and honours

Markus Meckel has received several awards and honors in his life. * 1995

Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by ...

(First Class), Federal Republic of Germany * 1998 Cavalier's Cross, Poland * 2002 Prince Gediminas Award, Lithuania * 2003

Viadrina European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) (german: Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)) is a university located at Frankfurt (Oder) in Brandenburg, Germany. It is also known as the University of Frankfurt (Oder). The city is on th ...

Prize, Federal Republic of Germany * 2004 Cross of the Terra Mariana, Republic of Estonia * 2005 Three-Star Medal, Republic of Latvia * 2020 The 20th Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award along with

Hans-Dietrich Genscher Hans-Dietrich Genscher (21 March 1927 – 31 March 2016) was a German statesman and a member of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 1969 to 1974, and as Federal Minister for Foreign Affa ...

, Ivan Havel an
Ivan Chvatik
commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the Fall of the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its ...

(jointly awarded by the Prague Society and

)

References

External links

Timeline of Markus Meckel's life (in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meckel, Markus 1952 births Living people People from Märkisch-Oderland Members of the Bundestag for Brandenburg Members of the Bundestag 2002–2005 Members of the Bundestag 1998–2002 Members of the Bundestag 1994–1998 Foreign Ministers of East Germany Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 2nd Class Social Democratic Party in the GDR politicians Members of the 10th Volkskammer East German dissidents Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany