Helmut Schlesinger (4 September 1924 – 23 December 2024) was a German economist and President of the

Bundesbank The Deutsche Bundesbank (, , colloquially Buba, sometimes alternatively abbreviated as BBk or DBB) is the national central bank for Germany within the Eurosystem. It was the German central bank from 1957 to 1998, issuing the Deutsche Mark (DM). ...

from 1991 to 1993. Having worked for the institution and its precursor from 1952, he pursued monetary stability.

Biography

Early life and education

Schlesinger was born in Penzberg, Bavaria, on 4 September 1924. His schooling was at Bavarian boarding schools until he joined the German military in 1943 and served for two years during World War II. He then studied economics at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

, from which he graduated with a

Diplom A ''Diplom'' (, from ) is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

in 1948, and with a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in economics in 1951. His thesis was about economic efficiency in the public administration sector.

Career

From 1949 to 1952, Schlesinger worked at the Ifo Institute for Economic Research in Munich. He entered the precursor of the

Deutsche Bundesbank The Deutsche Bundesbank (, , colloquially Buba, sometimes alternatively abbreviated as BBk or DBB) is the National central bank (Eurosystem), national central bank for Germany within the Eurosystem. It was the German central bank from 1957 to 19 ...

, the Bank deutscher Länder, in 1952 and ascended rapidly to the position of a department head. In 1956, he served as Head of the Economic Analysis and Forecasting Division. In 1964, he was appointed Head of the Economics and Statistics Department; he became a member of the executive board in 1972. He served as deputy chairman from 1980 to 1991 and as President of the German Central Bank from 1991 to 1993 when he retired, succeeding Karl Otto Pöhl and succeeded by

Hans Tietmeyer Hans Tietmeyer (18 August 1931 – 27 December 2016) was a German economist and regarded as one of the foremost experts on international financial matters. He was president of Deutsche Bundesbank from 1993 until 1999 and remained afterwards one o ...

. His key objective was the stability of the currency. His counter-inflation policies influenced European monetary politics. Remarks by Schlesinger in ''

Handelsblatt The ''Handelsblatt'' (literally "commerce paper" in English) is a German-language business newspaper published in Düsseldorf by Handelsblatt Media Group, formerly known as Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt. History and profile ''Handelsblatt'' was es ...

'' in 1992 triggered a financial crisis for the

British pound Sterling (Currency symbol, symbol: Pound sign, £; ISO 4217, currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of account, unit of sterling, and the word ''Pound (cu ...

that became known as

Black Wednesday Black Wednesday, or the 1992 sterling crisis, was a financial crisis that occurred on 16 September 1992 when the UK Government was forced to withdraw sterling from the (first) European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERMI), following a failed at ...

. Schlesinger was a distinguished honorary professor at the

German University of Administrative Sciences The German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer (German: ''Deutsche Universität für Verwaltungswissenschaften Speyer''; sometimes referred to as Speyer University), is a national graduate school for administrative sciences and public m ...

. He was an advisor to IDEAglobal Group, a global financial research organisation.

Personal life

Schlesinger and his wife Carola had four children. He turned 100 on 4 September 2024, and died in Bad Homburg three months later, on 23 December.

Awards

Schlesinger was a member of the Orders of Merit and of Chivalry of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, Hungary,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. He received honorary doctorates from the universities of Frankfurt (1981), Göttingen (1981), and St. Gallen (1993).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schlesinger, Helmut 1924 births 2024 deaths People from Weilheim-Schongau Presidents of the Deutsche Bundesbank German men centenarians German chief executives German economists Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany