Lauritz Lauritzen (20 January 1910 – 5 June 1980) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). He was born in

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

and died in Bad Honnef.

Life and career

Lauritzen studied Law at the universities of

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

and

and earned a doctorate (Dr. iur, equivalent to S.J.D.). After working as a high ranking civil servant at the Ministry of the Interior of the German Federal State of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

, Lauritzen became mayor of Kassel.Biography of Lauritzen on the website of Kassel.
/ref> In 1963 he joined the Hessian government as Minister of Justice and Federal Affairs. A possible candidacy as Minister President of Hesse, was obstructed by an affair concerning donations to a football club. After the election to 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 ...

in 1966, Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger appointed Lauritzen as Federal Minister of Housing and Urban Development.Gallery of Ministers
at the website of the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development. After the election of 1969, the name of the ministry was changed to Ministry of Urban Development and Housing. On 7 July 1972, Lauritzen additionally became head of the Ministries of

Transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

and of Post and Telecommunication. From 15 December 1972 on, he headed only the Ministry of Transport. His predecessor at the Transport Ministry, Georg Leber, triggered press and public opposition by implementing a blanket 100 km/h speed limit on major roads, but not on Autobahnen. In support of his predecessor's action, Lauritzen in August 1972 repeated his conviction that speed limits served the cause of traffic safety. During the

1973 oil crisis In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after Eg ...

Lauritzen took the opportunity to implement a general speed limit of 100 km/h (subsequently withdrawn) on German autobahns. He left the cabinet on 7 May 1974 upon the resignation of Chancellor

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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lauritzen, Lauritz 1910 births 1980 deaths Politicians from Kiel Transport ministers of Germany Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany