Erich Mende (28 October 1916 – 6 May 1998) was a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was the leader of FDP from 1960 to 1968 and the vice chancellor of Germany from 1963 to 1966.

Early life

Mende was born on 28 October 1916 in Groß Strehlitz, in the

Province of Silesia The Province of Silesia (; ; ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1742 and established as an official province in 1815, then became part of the German Empire in 1871. In 1919, as ...

, a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. Today it is Strzelce Opolskie, part of

Opole Voivodeship Opole Voivodeship ( , , ), is the smallest and least populated voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province's name derives from that of the region's capital and largest city, Opole. It is part of Silesia. A relatively lar ...

in Poland. He was the third of four children of Max Mende (1885–1943) and his wife Anna (1889–1968), née Krawietz, of Polish descent. He had a seven-year-older brother Walter and a five-year-older sister Amalie. His father was the director of a secondary school (''

Volksschule The German term ''Volksschule'' () generally refers to compulsory education, denoting an educational institution every person (i.e. the people, ''Volk'') is required to attend. In Germany and Switzerland it is equivalent to a combined primar ...

'') and, as was usual among Catholics, a supporter of the Centre Party. He grew up in region of Silesia heavily fought over during the Silesian Uprisings of 1919 to 1921 that culminated in the Battle of Annaberg (21–26 May 1921). He also experienced the Upper Silesia occupation by British, French and Italian forces, and being governed by an Inter-Allied Committee headed by a French general, Henri Le Rond. On graduating from the ''Königliches Johanneum Gymnasium'' in Groß Strehlitz in 1936 he decided to become a professional soldier and enlisted in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

's 84th Infantry Regiment, then subordinated to the 8th Infantry Division, at

Gleiwitz Gliwice (; , ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder River, Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional capital ...

, on the German-Polish frontier.

Military career

As a lieutenant of infantry he was badly wounded on the third day of the

German invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

in 1939. He was wounded on two further occasions. In January 1945 as a major, he was awarded the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. While it was order of precedence, lower in preceden ...

(''Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes'') for holding the front and thereby helping 10,000

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

n civilians and wounded escape the advancing

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

. A little later he managed to get the survivors of the Silesian ''102. Infanterie-Division'' (102nd Infantry Division), about 4,000 men, to the relative safety of being prisoners of war of the British. According to his own account, Mende shared a very trusted relationship with the commanding general of the 102nd Infantry Division, Werner von Bercken. In April 1944, Von Bercken introduced him to ''

Generalmajor is the Germanic languages, Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central Europe, Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and R ...

'' Henning von Tresckow, who organized the German resistance against Adolf Hitler. In this brief meeting Von Bercken encouraged Mende to openly share his pessimistic view on the outcome of the war. In this account, Mende expressed to Von Bercken and Von Tresckow his view that the German leadership needed to find a political solution, negotiating peace, since the war could not be won by military means.

Political career

On his release from British custody, Mende took up the study of law and political science at Cologne University, gaining his doctorate in 1949. He also helped to found the Free Democratic Party (FDP) in 1945. His party was the most freemarket-orientated of the three main German parties. Mende was elected to the Bundestag in 1949 and rose swiftly through the ranks of his party. By 1960 he was national chairman of FDP. He held this post until 1968. As a member of parliament Mende worked tirelessly on behalf of former soldiers, those who were released after lengthy captivity (the so-called Spätheimkehrer), and those condemned as war criminals. He took a rather conservative, traditionalist view of how the new German armed forces, the

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

, should be structured and trained. Erich Mende

He was something of a thorn in

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman and politician who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of th ...

's side. Adenauer's Christian Democrats were the main government party with which the FDP was in coalition. After the FDP increased its vote in September 1961, in the wake of the building of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

in August 1961, Mende urged his party not to join Adenauer in another coalition. The FDP did not take his advice. He refused to take office, only changing his position once

Ludwig Erhard Ludwig Wilhelm Erhard (; 4 February 1897 – 5 May 1977) was a German politician and economist affiliated with the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and Chancellor of Germany (1949–), chancellor of West Ge ...

had replaced Adenauer as Chancellor in 1963. Under Erhard Mende served as Vice-Chancellor (deputy head of government) and Minister for All-German Affairs. His task was to promote relations with Communist East Germany, the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, not then recognised by the West Germans. During his period of office

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

ers were permitted, for the first time, to cross the Wall for Christmas visits in December 1963. From 1964, East German senior citizens were allowed to visit West Germany. Mende inaugurated agreements on road building, especially on the autobahn near Hof to facilitate better communications with West Berlin. Also during his time in office over 4,000 political prisoners held in East German prisons were "bought free" by West Germany. The FDP lost office in 1966 with the fall of Erhard. His successor at the head of the Christian Democrats, Kurt Georg Kiesinger, decided on a coalition with the main opposition party, the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and concurrently served as the Chancellor ...

. In opposition Mende turned his attention to his finances and worked as representative of the American international investment bank, IOS. His party veered to the left and he was replaced in January 1968 by

Walter Scheel Walter Scheel (; 8 July 1919 – 24 August 2016) was a German statesman. A member of the Nazi Party who joined the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP) in 1946, he first served in government as the Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and ...

. He left the Bundestag in 1969. In the following year the FDP became the junior partner in Brandt's SPD-FDP coalition. In protest against Brandt's new

Ostpolitik ''Neue Ostpolitik'' (German for "new eastern policy"), or ''Ostpolitik'' () for short, was the normalization of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, or West Germany) and Eastern Europe, particularly the German Democratic Re ...

and the recognition of the

Oder–Neisse line The Oder–Neisse line (, ) is an unofficial term for the Germany–Poland border, modern border between Germany and Poland. The line generally follows the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers, meeting the Baltic Sea in the north. A small portion ...

Mende left the FDP in 1970 and joined the Christian Democrats in opposition. His defection did not have much impact on the coalition or his party's fortunes. He served in the Bundestag again as a CDU Member from 1972 through 1980, but failed to make much impact in the ranks of the Christian Democrats.

Personal life

Erich Mende was married twice. His second wife, the young war widow Margot Hansen, he met in 1947 at an FDP meeting. They married a year later. Margot Mende played an active role in her husband's career. His son Walter Mende (born 14 July 1944 in Oels) was the '' Oberbürgermeister'' (Lord Mayor) of

Leverkusen Leverkusen () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the south, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne, and to the north the state capital, Düsseldorf. The city is part of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan ...

from 1994 to 1999.

Awards

German Cross The War Order of the German Cross (), normally abbreviated to the German Cross or ''Deutsches Kreuz'', was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 28 September 1941. It was awarded in two divisions: in gold for repeated acts of bravery or military leade ...

in Gold on 30 May 1942 as ''

Oberleutnant (English: First Lieutenant) is a senior lieutenant Officer (armed forces), officer rank in the German (language), German-speaking armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the Swiss Armed Forces. In Austria, ''Oberle ...

'' in the 10./Infanterie-Regiment 84 *

on 28 February 1945 as ''

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

'' and leader of Grenadier-Regiment 216Fellgiebel 2000, p. 308. * Great Cross of Merit

Notes

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External links