Rupert Scholz (born 23 May 1937) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union.

Early life and education

Scholz was born in

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 ...

and received his

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 1957. He studied law and economic at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

the

Ludwig Maximilian 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 ...

. He completed his first ''

Staatsexamen The ("state examination" or "exam by state"; pl.: ''Staatsexamina'') is a German government licensing examination that future physicians, dentists, physical therapists, teachers, research librarians, archivists, pharmacists, food chemists, psyc ...

'' in 1961, received his doctorate in 1966 with

Peter Lerche Peter Lerche (January 12, 1928 – March 14, 2016) was a German jurist. Between 1964 and 1996 he held a chair for constitutional law at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. His research interests also included media law. Born in Leitmerit ...

as ''Doktorvater'' in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

with the work ''Das Wesen und die Entwicklung der gemeindlichen öffentlichen Einrichtungen'', completed his second ''Staatsexamen'' in 1967 and habilitated in 1971 in Munich with the work ''Die Koalitionsfreiheit als Verfassungsproblem''. In 1972 he became a law professor at the Free University of Berlin. In 1978 he accepted the chair of state, administrative and finance law at the University of Munich. He retired from the post in 2005.

Political career

From 1981 to 1983, Scholz was Senator for Justice under Berlin Governing Mayor

Richard von Weizsäcker Richard Karl Freiherr von Weizsäcker (; 15 April 1920 – 31 January 2015) was a German politician ( CDU), who served as President of Germany from 1984 to 1994. Born into the aristocratic Weizsäcker family, who were part of the German nobili ...

and Senator for Federal Affairs under Weizsäcker and his successor

Eberhard Diepgen Eberhard Diepgen (born 13 November 1941) is a German lawyer and politician who served as Mayor of West Berlin from 1984 to 1989 and again as Mayor of (united) Berlin, from 1991 until 2001, as member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). E ...

from 1982 to 1988. Scholz joined the

Christian Democratic Union of Germany The Christian Democratic Union of Germany ( , CDU ) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is the major party of the centre-right in German politics. Friedrich Merz has been federal chairman of the CDU since 31 ...

(CDU) in 1983. From 1985 to 1988 he was a member of the

Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin The of Berlin (House of Representatives) () is the state parliament ('' Landtag'') of Berlin, Germany according to the city-state's constitution. In 1993, the parliament moved from Rathaus Schöneberg to its present house on Niederkirchnerst ...

. From 1990 to 2002 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 ...

'' and Chairman of the

CDU/CSU CDU/CSU, unofficially the Union parties ( ) or the Union, is a centre-right Christian democratic and conservative political alliance of two political parties in Germany: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Social U ...

parliamentary group from 1994 to 1998. From 1998 to 2002 he was chairman of the Legal Committee. From 1998 to 2001 he was Deputy State Chairman of the CDU Berlin. In the

2002 German federal election The 2002 German federal election was held in Germany on 22 September 2002 to elect the members of the 15th Bundestag. Incumbent Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's centre-left "red-green" governing coalition retained a narrow majority, and the Social ...

he was passed over in his constituency (Berlin-Tempelhof) by his party against his will.

Defence Minister

On 18 May 1988, Scholz was appointed

Federal Minister of Defence Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

in the cabinet of Chancellor

Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as chancellor of Germany and governed the ''Federal Republic'' from 1982 to 1998. He was leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to ...

Gerhard Stoltenberg Gerhard Stoltenberg (29 September 1928 – 23 November 2001) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and minister in the cabinets of Ludwig Erhard, Kurt Georg Kiesinger and Helmut Kohl. He served as Minister-President ...

succeeded him in the post in the cabinet reshuffle in 1989. In 2007, Scholz stated that Germany should strive to become a

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...

.Tagesspiegel
Ex-Minister: Atomwaffen für Deutschland
27 January 2007

References

1937 births Living people Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Defence ministers of Germany Members of the Bundestag for Berlin Members of the Bundestag 1998–2002 Members of the Bundestag 1994–1998 Senators of Berlin Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany {{Germany-CDU-politician-stub