Gerd Langguth (18 May 1946 – 12 May 2013) was a professor of political science at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

and the author of biographies of

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Op ...

Horst Köhler Horst Köhler (; born 22 February 1943) is a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the CDU (of which he is a member) and the CSU, as well as the ...

and of Rudi Dutschke

Early life

Gerd Langguth was born in Wertheim. He attended the Dietrich Bonhoeffer School, a humanist Gymnasium in

Wertheim am Main Wertheim ( East Franconian: ''Wärde'') is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg with a population of around 23,400. It is located on the confluence of the rivers Tauber and Main. Wertheim is best known for its ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

University

While at university, from 1970 to 1974 Langguth was president of the

Association of Christian Democratic Students The Association of Christian Democratic Students (german: Ring Christlich-Demokratischer Studenten) is a German student organisation founded in 1951 and based in Berlin. It contains more than 100 groups at universities with 8,000 members in tot ...

. He later worked for the

Konrad Adenauer Stiftung The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (german: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, KAS) is a German political party foundation associated with but independent of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The foundation's headquarters are located in Sa ...

in Stuttgart. From 1976 to 1980, Gerd Langguth was a member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the German Federalism, 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 Representat ...

for the Christian Democratic Union. He was a member of the executive committee of the CDU. From 1981 to 1985, Langguth was director of the

Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung The Federal Agency for Civic Education (FACE, german: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (''bpb'')) is a German federal government agency responsible for promoting civic education. It is subordinated to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, ...

in Bonn. Between 1986 and 1987 he represented Berlin as a civil servant at a federal level. From 1988 to 1993, he was head of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

's representation in Germany, in Bonn. From 1993 to 1997, Gerd Langguth was acting chairman of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. From 2003 to 2004 he was active on the executive board of the ''Bürgerkonvent'', a movement for political and economic reform. Langguth taught

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

at the University of Bonn. He was married to food chemist Susanne Langguth.

Teaching and publications

His works include biographies of

and, in the context of what he describes as the "myth of 1968", of the radical student leader Rudi Dutschke. Some of his works have been translated into English. Gerd Langguth lectured on European integration. He has also held lectures on international terrorism, German institutions, and political decision processes. Langguth died in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, aged 66.

References

External links

Personal Web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Langguth, Gerd German political scientists Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians Christian Democratic Union of Germany Academic staff of the University of Bonn 1946 births 2013 deaths People from Wertheim am Main