Franz-Josef Wuermeling (8 November 1900 – 7 March 1986) was a

West German West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital c ...

CDU politician and minister who served as Federal Minister for Family Affairs from 1953 to 1962.

Early life and education

Wuermeling was born in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 1900. His father, Bernhard, worked at the Reichsamt des Innern and the Reichsarbeitsamt, the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

and the Ministry of Labour in the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. Wuermeling attended school in Berlin and studied law and economics at Münster University,

Hamburg University The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen''), the Hamburg Colon ...

and Freiburg University. He served in the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Political career

Wuermeling was the mayor of

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

for a year in 1945 before being elected to the Rhineland Landtag (Parliament) where he served as a Secretary in the State Ministry of the Interior from 1947 to 1949. In the 1949 German federal election, Wuermeling was elected to the West German Bundestag.

Adenauer cabinet

After the 1953 election, Wuermeling was appointed the first Federal Minister for Family Affairs. Wuermeling would stay in the post through Adenauer's second, third and fourth ministries until December 1962. He introduced the so-called " Wuermeling pass" which enabled families with children to travel at a discounted price.

Honours

Wuermeling received the following honours:

National orders

* Commander's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

International orders

* Grand Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

* Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wuermeling, Franz-Josef 1900 births 1986 deaths Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians People from Charlottenburg University of Münster alumni Mayors of places in Rhineland-Palatinate Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Bundestag for Rhineland-Palatinate Members of the Bundestag 1949–1953 Heads of the German Chancellery