Gerhard Schröder (CDU)

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Gerhard Schröder
Interior Minister Schröder in 1960
Federal Minister of the Interior
In office
20 October 1953  13 November 1961
Chancellor Konrad Adenauer
Preceded by Robert Lehr
Succeeded by Hermann Höcherl
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office
14 November 1961  30 November 1966
Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (1961-1963)
Ludwig Erhard (1963-1966)
Preceded by Heinrich von Brentano
Succeeded by Willy Brandt
Minister of Defence
In office
1 December 1966  21 October 1969
Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger
Preceded by Kai-Uwe von Hassel
Succeeded by Helmut Schmidt
Personal details
Born (1910-09-11)September 11, 1910
Saarbrücken, Rhine Province
German Empire
Died December 31, 1989(1989-12-31) (aged 79)
Kampen (Sylt), West Germany
Nationality German
Political party Nazi Party (1933-1941)
Christian Democratic Union (1945-1989)
Alma mater University of Bonn

Gerhard Schröder (September 11, 1910 - December 31, 1989) was a West German politician and member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party. He served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 1953 to 1961, as Foreign Minister from 1961 to 1966, and as Minister of Defence from 1966 until 1969. In the 1969 election he ran for President of Germany but was outpolled by Gustav Heinemann.

Life

The son of a railway official, Schröder was born in Saarbrücken, then part of the Prussian Rhine Province. Having passed his Abitur exams, he went on to study law at the University of Königsberg and two semesters abroad at the University of Edinburgh, where he, according his own accounts, became familiar with a British way of life. In 1932 he finished his studies in Bonn in 1932, where he had committed himself to the university group of the national liberal German People's Party.

Schröder passed the first and second Staatsexamen in 1932 and 1936. Having obtained his doctorate in 1934 and worked as a consultant at the Kaiser Wilhelm Society in Berlin. Still as a referendary in Bonn, he had joined the Nazi Party on 1 April 1933 and also the SA. He continued his career as a law firm employee and in 1939 obtained an attorney's certificate and worked as a tax lawyer.

He held federal office as Minister of the Interior (1953–1961) and as Minister of Foreign Affairs (1961–1966) in the cabinets of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and of Ludwig Erhard. From 1966 to 1969 he served as Minister of Defence under Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger.

In 1969 Gerhard Schröder ran for the Office of the Federal President (supported by CDU and NPD), but he was beaten by Gustav Heinemann, the nominee of the SPD (supported by FDP), at the third ballot with 49.4% to 48.8% of the votes of the Federal Assembly.

Decorations and awards

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.

References

  1. "Reply to a parliamentary question" (pdf) (in German). p. 133. Retrieved 22 December 2012. 

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
Robert Lehr
Federal Minister of the Interior
19531961
Succeeded by
Hermann Höcherl
Preceded by
Heinrich von Brentano di Tremezzo
Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs
19611966
Succeeded by
Willy Brandt
Preceded by
Kai-Uwe von Hassel
Federal Minister of Defence
19661969
Succeeded by
Helmut Schmidt
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