Erhard Eppler | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Minister for Economic Cooperation | |
| In office 1968–1974 | |
| Preceded by | Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski |
| Succeeded by | Egon Bahr |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1926-12-09)9 December 1926 |
| Died | 19 October 2019(2019-10-19) (aged 92) Schwäbisch Hall, Germany |
| Political party | Social Democratic Party |
| Occupation | Teacher |
Erhard Eppler (9 December 1926 – 19 October 2019)[1] was a German politician of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD) and founder of theDeutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ).[2] He studied English, German and history inFrankfurt,Bern andTübingen, achieved a PhD and worked as a teacher. He metGustav Heinemann in the late 1940s, who became a role model. Eppler was a member of theBundestag from 1961 to 1976. He was appointedMinister for Economic Cooperation first in 1968 during thegrand coalition ofKurt Georg Kiesinger (CDU) andWilly Brandt (SPD), continuing under Chancellor Brandt in 1969 and ChancellorHelmut Schmidt (SPD) in 1974, when he stepped down.
An early thinker onenvironmental sustainability and peace movements, Eppler was involved in various controversies within his party. He was president of theDeutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag (German Protestant Church Assembly) from 1981 to 1983 and again from 1989 to 1991.
Born inUlm on 9 December 1926, Eppler grew up inSchwäbisch Hall where his father was the headmaster of the local grammar school.[3] His grandfather was pastor at theUlmer Münster.[3] During World War II, Eppler served from 1943 to 1945 in an anti-aircraft unit.[4] He passed hisAbitur in 1946, and studied English, German and history at theFrankfurt University, inBern and inTübingen.[3] In 1951, he completed hisPhD with a thesis onElizabethan tragedy. He worked as a teacher at theGymnasium inSchwenningen from 1953 until 1961.[3]
Eppler became a member of theNSDAP in September 1943, at the age of 16. Later he spoke of this decision as "stupidity",[5] but also said, "It wasn't against my will that I ended up on some list [of members of the NSDAP], but I accepted it. Things were like that in those times."[6]
While he was studying in Bern at the end of the 1940s, Eppler got to knowGustav Heinemann, one of the founders of theChristian Democratic Union (CDU).[3] Heinemann became Minister of the Interior from 1949 to 1950, but then left the cabinet, and later the CDU, together with several other party members who disagreed with ChancellorKonrad Adenauer's policy of complete integration into the Western world. Eppler joined Heinemann's new party, theAll-German People's Party (Gesamtdeutsche Volkspartei), in 1952,[4] but like most members of the GVP, including Heinemann, he changed over to theSocial Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in 1956.[3]
For most of the time between 1970 and 1991 Eppler belonged to the SPD's National Executive Committee. He chaired an SPD commission on tax reform, and from 1973 to 1991 served on a commission for formulating the party's basic values (Grundwertekommission), where he supported opposition to atomic energy.[7]
From 1973 to 1981 Eppler was the leader of the regional SPD inBaden-Württemberg. He was the SPD's candidate for the office ofminister-president in that state, but his party was defeated by the CDU in two state elections.[8]
Eppler was a member of theBundestag, the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany, from 1961 to 1976.[9]
On 16 October 1968, Eppler was appointedMinister for Economic Cooperation in thegrand coalition government of ChancellorKurt Georg Kiesinger (CDU) and Foreign MinisterWilly Brandt (SPD). He continued in that office when Willy Brandt became Chancellor in 1969,[4] but after his department was subject to severe budget cuts under the following Chancellor,Helmut Schmidt (SPD) in 1974, he stepped down in protest.[4][9]
Eppler has always been considered to be a proponent of the left within the SPD. DuringGerhard Schröder's second term as Chancellor (2002–2005), however, he supported the government's economic and social reforms, which were widely criticized asneo-liberal (Agenda 2010). Moreover, although he had been close to thepeace movement of the 1980s,[10] he supported the foreign policy of the Schröder government and approved of German participation in the military interventions inKosovo in 1999 andAfghanistan since 2001. He was an early adopter of views about ecological topics and environmental protection.[10] In spite of his general loyalty to his party's leadership, he was especially unhappy with much of its economic policy during the party's time in power.[11]
In his bookNot much time for the Third World,[12] Eppler was one of the first to point out the connections between environmental protection and international development.[4]
After his withdrawal from federal politics, Eppler involved himself more in his work in theProtestant Church. From 1981 to 1983 and again from 1989 to 1991, he was president of theDeutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag (German Protestant Church Congress).[4]
Eppler was also a member of the Wacholderhof Association, which promotes international cooperation, fair trade, and environmental sustainability. Eppler's numerous publications also show his political and social involvement. They deal with a wide range of subjects that concern not only the political situation in Germany and the economy but also general questions of developments in politics and society.[4] In 2006, one of his books on the role of the state was honoured with theDas politische Buch 2006 prize of theFriedrich Ebert Foundation.[13]
Eppler's books are held by theGerman National Library, including:[14]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
