Hermann Otto Solms (born Hermann Otto Prince zu Solms-Hohensolms-Lich; 24 November 1940) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). Between 1980 and 2013, he was a member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

, from 1991 to 1998 as Chairman of the FDP parliamentary party and from 1998 to 2013 as Vice President of the Bundestag. Since 2017 he has again been a member of the Bundestag.

Early life

Solms was

born posthumously Born may refer to: * Childbirth * Born (surname), a surname (see also for a list of people with the name) * ''Born'' (comics), a comic book limited series Places * Born, Belgium, a village in the German-speaking Community of Belgium * Born, L ...

, the third son and fifth child of Hermann Otto Hereditary Prince zu Solms-Hohensolms-Lich (1902–1940).Gothaisches Genealogisches Handbuch der Fürstlchen Häuser, Band I. Verlag des Deutschen Adelsarchivs. Marburg. 2015. pp. 471–476. (German). . His father was the heir to the fortune and legacy of the

Princes A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in some ...

zu Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, a noble family known in Germany since 1129, whose

Imperial count Imperial Count (, ) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. During the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from a prince wh ...

y was made a principality of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

in 1792, but mediatized under the sovereignty of the

Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine () was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The grand duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 as the Grand Duchy of Hesse (). It assumed the name ...

in 1806. Hermann Otto's father died while serving as a lieutenant in the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

Neuruppin Neuruppin (, , in contrast to ":de:Alt Ruppin, Old Ruppin"; ; North Brandenburgisch dialect, Brandenburgisch: ''Reppin'') is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, the administrative seat of Ostprignitz-Ruppin district. It is the birthplace of the noveli ...

on 3 July 1940. His mother, ''née'' Baroness Gertrude von Werthern-Beichlingen (1913–1987), was remarried in 1950 to Hans Joachim Sell of Neustettin. After completing his secondary education (

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

) in 1960, Solms carried out his obligatory military service and then completed a commercial apprenticeship in 1964. He studied

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and

Giessen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the Germany, German States of Germany, state () of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen (district), district of Giessen and the Giessen (region), administrative region of Giessen. The population is appro ...

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 ...

and

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, USA, finishing in 1969 with an economics degree and in 1975 with a

doctoral degree 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 ...

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

(''Dr. agr.''). In 1970 he began working as a researcher at the Institute for Environmental Management Studies at

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the German-speaking world. It is named afte ...

and in 1973 he became the personal advisor of

vice president Liselotte Funcke. Since 1976 he has been an independent consultant.

Political career

Since 1971, Solms has been a member of the FDP, holding the post of Treasury Secretary from 1987 to 1999. After the death of his successor,

Günter Rexrodt Günter Rexrodt (; 12 September 194119 August 2004) was a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as Federal Minister for Economic Affairs in the fourth and fifth governments of Chancellor Helmut Kohl from 1993 to 1998. ...

, Solms was again appointed Secretary of the Treasury in the middle of 2004, confirmed on 5 May 2005 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

by a majority of 90.6%.

Member of Parliament, 1980–2013

Solms was a member of the

(MdB) between 1980 and 2013, serving as Deputy Chairman from 1985 to 1991, and as Chairman of the FDP Bundestag parliamentary group from 15 January 1991 to 26 October 1998. Following the 1998 elections Solms was selected to serve as Vice President of the Bundestag, under the leadership of President

Wolfgang Thierse Wolfgang Thierse (; born 22 October 1943) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served as the 11th president of the Bundestag from 1998 to 2005. Early life and career Thierse was born in Breslau (Wrocław in present- ...

. In his capacity as vice president, he was also a member of the parliament's Council of Elders, which – among other duties – determines daily legislative agenda items and assigns committee chairpersons based on party representation. He was selected for this office again in 2002, 2005 and 2009. In the negotiations to form a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

with the Christian Democrats – both the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the

Christian Social Union in Bavaria The Christian Social Union in Bavaria ( German: , CSU) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. Having a regionalist identity, the CSU operates only in Bavaria while its larger counterpart, the Christian Democra ...

(CSU) – following the 2009 federal elections, Solms led the FDP delegation in the working group on taxes, national budget, and financial policy; his counterpart from the CDU was

Thomas de Maizière Karl Ernst Thomas de Maizière (; born 21 January 1954) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 2009 to 2011 and 2013 to 2018, as well as Federal Minister of Defence f ...

. He did not run for a parliamentary seat in the 2013 elections after having failed to be selected for the first position on the Hesse FDP state list in December 2012. His term as Member of Bundestag expired on 22 September 2013.

Member of Parliament, 2017–2021

In the 2017 federal elections, Solms was again elected to the Bundestag. At the age of 76 years, he opened the parliament's first session. In the (unsuccessful) negotiations to form a coalition government with the CDU/CSU and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

following the elections, he was part of the FDP delegation. Since 2018, he has been serving as deputy chairman of the Berlin-Taipei Parliamentary Circle of Friends. In late 2019, Solms announced that he would not stand in the 2021 federal elections but instead resign from active politics at the end of the parliamentary term.

Other activities

Corporate boards

* Deutsche Vermögensberatung (DVAG), Member of the Advisory Board * Piper Deutschland AG, Member of the Supervisory Board

Non-profit organizations

* Deutsche Stiftung Eigentum, Chairman of the Board of Trustees *

Friedrich Naumann Foundation The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom ('' German: Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit e.V.; Abbreviation: FNF'') is a German foundation for liberal politics, related to the Free Democratic Party and funded by the Federal Min ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees * Herbert Giersch Stiftung, Member of the Advisory Board * Peace of Westphalia Prize, Member of the JuryMembers of the Jury
Wirtschaftliche Gesellschaft für Westfalen und Lippe. * Association of German Foundations, Member of the Parliamentary Advisory Board (2009–2013) *

German Institute for International and Security Affairs The German Institute for International and Security Affairs (; SWP) is a German think tank in international relations and security studies. A semi-official organization with close links to the federal government, it advises the Bundestag (the ...

(SWP), Member of the Council (2002–2005)

Personal life

From 1969 to 1971 Solms was married to Margit Mayer (born 1944), by whom he had no children. In 1989 he married Christiane Meyer zu Eisen (born 1955), with whom he had three daughters.

Awards

* : Order of Propitious Clouds with Grand Cordon (2019).