Hans Eichel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hans Eichel (born December 24, 1941) is a German politician (SPD), was Minister of Finance from 1999-2005.

[edit] Background

He was brought up in Kassel where he did his Abitur in 1961. He then completed a degree in German, philosophy, political science, history and education at the universities of Marburg and Berlin, graduating in 1970. After that, he worked as a teacher in a Kassel Gymnasium.

[edit] Political career

From 1975 till 1991, he was the mayor of Kassel, initially gaining the office at the age of only 33. From 1991 to 1999, he was Prime Minister (Ministerpräsident) of Hesse. In 1999, he replaced Oskar Lafontaine as German finance minister after Lafontaine's resignation. He has been a member of the Bundestag since 2002.

At the beginning of his term of office, he tried to decrease the German federal deficit, but due to constraints by the cabinet and by the bad economic situation, he had to abandon these plans.

Preceded by Walter Wallmann (CDU)	Minister President of Hesse 1991 – 1999	Succeeded by Roland Koch (CDU)
Preceded by Oskar Lafontaine (SPD)	Minister of Finance of Germany 1999 – 2005	Succeeded by Peer Steinbrück (SPD)