Walter Scheel (; 8 July 1919 – 24 August 2016) was a German statesman. A member of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

who joined the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP) in 1946, he first served in government as the Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development from 1961 to 1966 and later as

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international correspondence; the official English title is President of the F ...

from 1974 to 1979. He led the FDP from 1968 to 1974. During the chancellorship of

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 ...

, Scheel was Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs and the

Vice Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth countr ...

. Scheel became acting Chancellor of West Germany from 7–16 May 1974 following Brandt's resignation after the

Guillaume Affair The Guillaume affair () was an espionage scandal in Germany during the Cold War. The scandal revolved around the exposure of an East German spy within the West German government and had far-reaching political repercussions in Germany, the mo ...

. He was elected shortly after as the president of West Germany, remaining in the role until 1979. Scheel was a member of the Protestant Church in Germany.

Early life

Scheel was born in Solingen (now in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

). He completed his '' Abitur'' at the Reformrealgymnsasium Schwertstraße. Scheel became a member of the

in 1942. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served 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 ...

during the last years of the war as a radar operator on a Bf 110

night fighter A night fighter (later known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor post-Second World War) is a largely historical term for a fighter aircraft, fighter or interceptor aircraft adapted or designed for effective use at night, during pe ...

Political career

When his Free Democratic Party reentered government in a coalition with

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman and politician who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of th ...

's Christian Democratic Union in 1961, Scheel was appointed federal minister of economic cooperation and development. He continued in that office under Chancellor Ludwig Erhard but brought about the downfall of the latter in late 1966 by resigning. A Christian Democratic/

Social Democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

Grand Coalition followed. During this time, in 1968, Scheel took over the party presidency from right wing liberal Erich Mende. According to one study, the election of Walter Scheel to the FDP leadership in 1968 “represented a turn to the left and the Free Democrats then indicated their wooing of the SPD by voting for the successful Social Democratic candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, Gustav Heinemann, in 1969.” In 1969, he led his party to form a new coalition with the Social Democrats. Under Chancellor

, Scheel became

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

and

. Under their leadership, West Germany pursued a course of rapprochement and détente with the Soviet bloc and officially recognized the existence of the

German Democratic Republic 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 ...

(GDR). This policy caused a massive public debate, with various Free and Social Democrats switching sides to the opposition. Though an attempt to oust Brandt failed, the coalition had lost its slender majority. The parliamentary stalemate was ended by the dissolution of parliament and early elections in 1972, which brought great gains for the Social Democrats and enabled the coalition to continue. On 7 May 1974, Brandt resigned as chancellor after one of his aides, Günter Guillaume, was arrested as a spy for the East German state. Though this had been internally suspected since 1973, Brandt accepted responsibility and resigned. Scheel, as acting chancellor, chaired the government meetings for a little over a week, until Helmut Schmidt was elected. One of his first official acts as acting Chancellor was the award of the war blind radio play prize to Alfred Behrens on 8 May 1974. On 14 May, he chaired the cabinet meeting once. Hans Dietrich Genscher became Scheel's successor as party chairman and as minister. Scheel Carter

Scheel was elected President of West Germany, a week after relinquishing his other government roles. He held the office from July 1974 until June 1979. At the funeral of Hanns Martin Schleyer in October 1977, Scheel gave a speech entitled ''shame''. After the federal presidency, Scheel was Chairman of the Bilderberg Conference as well as President of the European Movement in Germany from 1980 to 1985. From 1980 to 1989 he was also President of the German section of the Union of European Federalists (UEF). He was named honorary chairman of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in 1991.

Death

Scheel died on 24 August 2016 following a long illness. Having lived to he holds the record as the longest-lived German head of state, either imperial or elected.

Publications

* with Karl-Hermann Flach and Werner Maihofer: ''Die Freiburger Thesen der Liberalen.'' Rowohlt, Hamburg 1972, . * ''Die Zukunft der Freiheit – Vom Denken und Handeln in unserer Demokratie.'' Econ, 1979. * ''Wen schmerzt noch Deutschlands Teilung? 2 Reden zum 17. Juni'', Rowohlt, Reinbek 1986, . * with Otto Graf Lambsdorff: ''Freiheit in Verantwortung, Deutscher Liberalismus seit 1945.'' Bleicher, 1988, . * with Jürgen Engert: ''Erinnerungen und Einsichten''. Hohenheim-Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, . * with Tobias Thalhammer: ''Gemeinsam sind wir stärker – Zwölf erfreuliche Geschichten über Jung und Alt''. Allpart Media, Berlin 2010, .

Notes

Literature

* Hans-Dietrich Genscher (Hrsg.): ''Heiterkeit und Härte: Walter Scheel in seinen Reden und im Urteil von Zeitgenossen''. Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart 1984, . * Hans-Roderich Schneider: ''Präsident des Ausgleichs. Bundespräsident Walter Scheel. Ein liberaler Politiker.'' Verlag Bonn aktuell, Stuttgart 1975, .

References

External links

The German Federal Presidents
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheel, Walter 1919 births 2016 deaths 20th-century presidents of Germany 20th-century chancellors of Germany Politicians from the Rhine Province German Lutherans People from Solingen Ministers for foreign affairs of Germany Chairmen of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Bundestag 1972–1976 Members of the Bundestag 1969–1972 Members of the Bundestag 1965–1969 Members of the Bundestag 1961–1965 Members of the Bundestag 1957–1961 Members of the Bundestag 1953–1957 Members of the Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group MEPs for Germany 1958–1979 Leaders of political parties in Germany Luftwaffe personnel of World War II Free Democratic Party (Germany) MEPs Vice-chancellors of Germany Economic Cooperation ministers of Germany Grand Crosses Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Grand Collars of the Order of Saint James of the Sword Nazi Party members Members of the Bundestag for the Free Democratic Party (Germany) Vice presidents of the Bundestag