Werner Maihofer (20 October 1918 – 6 October 2009) was a German

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

and legal philosopher. He served as Germany's Federal Minister of the Interior from 1974 to 1978 until he resigned after a scandal involving an illegal wiretapping of Klaus Traube.

Biography

An avid speed skater in his youth, Maihofer was a member of the German national team at the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936, were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 February 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Nazi Ger ...

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; ) is an Northern Limestone Alps, Alpine mountain resort, ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district), district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ...

. Maihofer 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 ...

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 studied law at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

, and received his

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

degree in 1950. Maihofer gained his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

in 1953 and eventually obtained a professorship at the University of Saarbrücken. Maihofer did not join the Free Democratic Party until 1969. One of the leaders of thought of

social liberalism Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...

in Germany, he co-authored the ''Freiburg theses'' alongside Karl-Hermann Flach and Walter Scheel in 1971. In 1974, he succeeded

Hans-Dietrich Genscher Hans-Dietrich Genscher (21 March 1927 – 31 March 2016) was a German statesman and a member of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 1969 to 1974, and as Federal Minister for Foreign Affa ...

as Federal Ministry of the Interior, and—during the German Autumn—had to back several restraints of civil liberty.

Illegal wiretapping

During the German Autumn the Red Army Fraction increased their activities. Suspected contacts were monitored in the hope of gaining information that might lead to the capture of the militants. Klaus Traube, a nuclear industrialist, was sympathetic to groups opposed to nuclear power. He was suspected of passing secret information to left-wing radicals. In 1975, in a covert operation called "Operation Müll" ("operation trash"), the BND, under the supervision of Maihofer planted a number of wiretaps in Traube's home. They also later informed his employer who, as a result, dismissed him. This illegal operation was uncovered in 1977 by the magazine ''

Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

''. Maihofer resigned from his office in 1978, after taking responsibility for the illegal wiretapping. Maihofer returned to his chair at the University of Bielefeld which he held since 1970.

Death

Maihofer died on 6 October 2009; he was the oldest German Federal Minister at the time of this death. He was buried in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maihofer, Werner 1918 births 2009 deaths People from Konstanz 20th-century German jurists University of Freiburg alumni Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Interior ministers of Germany German male figure skaters Academic staff of Bielefeld University Academic staff of Saarland University Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Bundestag for the Free Democratic Party (Germany) German military personnel of World War II Presidents of the European University Institute 20th-century German sportsmen