Walter Romberg (27 December 1928 – 23 May 2014) was a German politician and finance minister of

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

Early life and education

Romberg was born in

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch Low German: ''Swerin''; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Zwierzyn''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germ ...

on 27 December 1928. From 1947, he studied physics and mathematics. He held a

Dr. rer. nat. for, la, Doctor rerum naturalium, Doctor of Natural Sciences, paren=left, ), abbreviated Dr. rer. nat., is a doctoral academic degree awarded by universities in some European countries (e.g. Germany, Austria and Czech Republic) to graduates in phy ...

in mathematics.

Career

He worked at the East German Academy of Sciences. He was

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of the

Zentralblatt MATH zbMATH Open, formerly Zentralblatt MATH, is a major reviewing service providing reviews and abstracts for articles in pure and applied mathematics, produced by the Berlin office of FIZ Karlsruhe – Leibniz Institute for Information Infrastru ...

from 1965 to 1978. Romberg became a member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD) in 1989. He served as the minister without portfolio in the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

of Prime Minister

Hans Modrow Hans Modrow (; 27 January 1928 – 10 February 2023) was a German politician best known as the last communist premier of East Germany. Coming into office amidst the Peaceful Revolution, he was the ''de facto'' leader of East Germany through ...

between 1989 and 1990. Romberg was appointed minister of finance to the

led by Prime Minister

Lothar de Maizière Lothar de Maizière (; born 2 March 1940) is a German former politician of the Christian Democratic Union. In 1990, he served as the head of the first and only democratically elected government of East Germany, holding this office during the fi ...

on 12 April 1990 following the first free elections of East Germany on 18 March 1990. Romberg was one of the senior social democratic members of de Maizière's cabinet. On 19 May 1990, the West Germany's finance minister,

Theo Waigel Theodor Waigel (born 22 April 1939) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). He represented Neu-Ulm in the Bundestag from 1976 to 2002. Waigel is a lawyer, and earned a doctorate in 1967. He was a member of the Bu ...

, and Romberg signed a state treaty to merge their economies and make the West German mark the sole legal currency in both nations by 2 July 1990. Romberg was removed from office on 15 August 1990 due to his support for the challenging clauses in a political unification treaty governing the allocation of tax revenues. He also angered the West German officials with his continuous demands for more cash help to bail out the weak East German industries and to finance welfare payments. The other reason for his removal was related to the East Germany's rapidly deteriorating economic status. Romberg was also fired due to his warnings about the reunification in terms of its economic burden and his critical and even pessimistic approach towards it. Werner Skowron succeeded Romberg in the post. Following the dismissal of Romberg, SPD left the coalition on 20 August 1990, and called it unconstitutional. Until 1994 Romberg served at the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

Views

In 1991, after unification, Romberg stated in a conference held at

Humboldt University The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public university, public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III of Prussia, Frederick W ...

that the West German leadership did not comprehend the huge differences between two countries' economic patterns.

Later years and personal life

Romberg was married and had three sons. In 1997, he moved to

Teltow Teltow () is a town in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. Geography Teltow is part of the agglomeration of Berlin. The distance to the Berlin city centre is , while the distance to Potsdam is . The Teltow Canal links th ...

with his wife. He died there on 23 May 2014 and was buried in his hometown Schwerin.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Romberg, Walter 20th-century German mathematicians 20th-century German politicians 1928 births 2014 deaths People from Schwerin Finance ministers of East Germany Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians