Manfred Rommel

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Manfred Rommel (born December 24, 1928) is a German politician (CDU), who was Mayor of Stuttgart from 1974 until 1996. He is one of the most popular local politicians of the CDU.

He is the second of two children of WWII Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and the only one of Lucie Maria Mollin born in Stuttgart. He deserted the army after his father's death to poison and surrendered to Maréchal Tassigny's French First army. Before he became mayor, he studied law and made a career as a high-ranking civil servant and state secretary in the state government. Helmut Kohl named him supervisor to the French-German Affairs succeding Gerhard Stoltenberg in 1995 until 1999, leaving his position to Rudolf Von Thadden.

In a 1996 celebration at the Württemberg State Theater, Helmut Kohl delivered the highest German civil distinction, the Distinguished Service Cross to Manfred Rommel. In his speech, Kohl emphasized on the good relations that were kept and build upon between France and Germany during Rommel's tenure as Stuttgart's mayor and his position in the Foreign Affairs with France. A few days after this distinction was given to Rommel, the city of Stuttgart offered him the Honorary Citizen Award.^[1]

[edit] Honours

President of the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gesellschaft
Orden des Großoffiziers im Orden von Oranien-Nassau (1982)
Ehrensenator der Fachhochschule für Technik Stuttgart (1982)
Honorary doctorate of the University of Missouri-St. Louis (1983),

of the Maryland University and

the University of Wales

Chevalier of the Legion of Honour of the French Republic (1985)
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1990)
Verdienstmedaille des Landes Baden-Württemberg
Theodor-Heuss-Medaille
General-Clay-Medallion
Dolf Sternberger-Preis
Karry Preis
Großes Verdienstkreuz mit Stern und Schulterband des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland