Werner Dollinger (10 October 1918 – 3 January 2008) was a German politician and

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

, a member of 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). He served as Federal Minister for the Treasury from 1962 to 1966, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation in 1966, Federal Minister of Post and Telecommunications from 1966 to 1969, and as Federal Minister of Transport from 1982 to 1987.

Life

Born in Neustadt an der Aisch in Middle Franconia, Dollinger studied economics and social sciences in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

, at the

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

and at the Technische Hochschule München. He obtained an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

(''Diplom-Kaufmann'') degree in 1940 and two years later gained his

doctorate 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 ...

. From 1943 to 1945, Dollinger served in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

armed forces 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 ...

. Back in his hometown after the war, he joined his father-in-law's brickyard business. He became chairman of the local Chamber of Commerce in 1948 and of the Middle Franconian clay industry association in 1952. As a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, Dollinger was a synod member of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria () is a Lutheran member church of the Protestant Church in Germany in the German state of Bavaria. The seat of the church is in Munich. The '' Landesbischof'' (bishop) of the church is Heinrich Bedford ...

from 1965 to 1995 and of the Evangelical Church in Germany from 1971 to 1991.

Politics

In 1946 Dollinger was one of the founding members of the Christian Social Union branch in Neustadt an der Aisch. He was elected

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

lor and deputy in the district assembly. He also acted as CSU district chairman from 1951 to 1972, as a councillor in the party's district committee, and joined the state executive in 1957. At the 1953 federal elections, Dollinger was elected to the West German

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 ...

parliament. He joined the CDU/CSU group executive committee, became vice chairman in 1957 and head of the CSU regional group in 1961. Re-elected several times, he remained a Bundestag MP until 1990. In 1956 he also joined the Common Assembly of the

European Coal and Steel Community The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was a European organization created after World War II to integrate Europe's coal and steel industries into a single common market based on the principle of supranationalism which would be governe ...

. On 14 December 1962 Dollinger was appointed Federal Minister for the Treasury in the last cabinet of Chancellor

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 ...

, an office he retained under Adenauer's successor

Ludwig Erhard Ludwig Wilhelm Erhard (; 4 February 1897 – 5 May 1977) was a German politician and economist affiliated with the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and Chancellor of Germany (1949–), chancellor of West Ge ...

. In 1966 he also served as Minister for Economic Cooperation, after Minister Walter Scheel and his FDP cabinet colleagues had resigned. In the succeeding

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political party, political parties of opposing political spectrum, political ideologies unite in a coalition government. Causes of a grand coali ...

cabinet of Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger, Dollinger was appointed Federal Minister of Post and Telecommunications. He lost his office when

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 ...

formed the social–liberal coalition after the 1969 federal elections. 13 years later, Dollinger once again entered the Federal Government, when he was appointed Federal Minister of Transport 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 ...

on 4 October 1982. He finally retired after the 1987 elections. He died at his home in Neustadt an der Aisch.

Honours

* Bavarian Order of Merit (1961) * Grand Cross of Merit with Star of the Federal Republic of Germany (1969) * Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria (1969) *Grand Cross of Merit with Star and Sash of the Federal Republic of Germany (1973)

References

External links