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Erich Mende | |
|---|---|
 Mende in 1961 | |
| Vice Chancellor of Germany West Germany | |
| In office 17 October 1963 – 28 October 1966 | |
| President | Heinrich Lübke |
| Chancellor | Ludwig Erhard |
| Preceded by | Ludwig Erhard |
| Succeeded by | Hans-Christoph Seebohm |
| Federal Minister of All-German Affairs | |
| In office 17 October 1963 – 28 October 1966 | |
| Chancellor | Ludwig Erhard |
| Preceded by | Rainer Barzel |
| Succeeded by | Johann Baptist Gradl |
| Member of theBundestag | |
| In office 7 September 1949 – 4 November 1980 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1916-10-28)28 October 1916 Groß Strehlitz,Kingdom of Prussia, Germany |
| Died | 6 May 1998(1998-05-06) (aged 81) Bonn, Germany |
| Political party | FDP CDU (from 1970) |
| Alma mater | University of Cologne,University of Bonn |
| Occupation | Soldier, politician |
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |
Erich Mende (28 October 1916 – 6 May 1998) was a German politician of theFree Democratic Party (FDP) andChristian Democratic Union (CDU). He was the leader of FDP from 1960 to 1968 and thevice chancellor of Germany from 1963 to 1966.
Mende was born on 28 October 1916 inGroß Strehlitz, in theProvince of Silesia, aprovince in theKingdom of Prussia. Today it isStrzelce Opolskie, part ofOpole Voivodeship in Poland. He was the third of four children of Max Mende (1885–1943) and his wife Anna (1889–1968), née Krawietz, of Polish descent.[1] He had a seven-year-older brother Walter and a five-year-older sister Amalie.[2][Note 1] His father was the director of a secondary school (Volksschule) and, as was usual among Catholics, a supporter of theCentre Party. He grew up in region of Silesia heavily fought over during theSilesian Uprisings of 1919 to 1921 that culminated in theBattle of Annaberg (21–26 May 1921). He also experienced the Upper Silesia occupation by British, French and Italian forces, and being governed by anInter-Allied Committee headed by a French general, Henri Le Rond.
On graduating from theKönigliches JohanneumGymnasium in Groß Strehlitz in 1936 he decided to become a professional soldier and enlisted in theWehrmacht's 84th Infantry Regiment, then subordinated to the8th Infantry Division, atGleiwitz, on the German-Polish frontier.
As a lieutenant of infantry he was badly wounded on the third day of theGerman invasion of Poland in 1939. He was wounded on two further occasions. In January 1945 as a major, he was awarded theKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) for holding the front and thereby helping 10,000East Prussian civilians and woundedescape the advancingRed Army. A little later he managed to get the survivors of the Silesian102. Infanterie-Division (102nd Infantry Division), about 4,000 men, to the relative safety of being prisoners of war of the British.
According to his own account, Mende shared a very trusted relationship with the commanding general of the 102nd Infantry Division,Werner von Bercken. In April 1944, Von Bercken introduced him toGeneralmajorHenning von Tresckow, who organized theGerman resistance against Adolf Hitler. In this brief meeting Von Bercken encouraged Mende to openly share his pessimistic view on the outcome of the war. In this account, Mende expressed to Von Bercken and Von Tresckow his view that the German leadership needed to find a political solution, negotiating peace, since the war could not be won by military means.[4]
On his release from British custody, Mende took up the study of law and political science atCologne University, gaining his doctorate in 1949. He also helped to found the Free Democratic Party (FDP) in 1945.
His party was the most freemarket-orientated of the three main German parties. Mende was elected to the Bundestag in 1949 and rose swiftly through the ranks of his party. By 1960 he was national chairman of FDP. He held this post until 1968.
As a member of parliament Mende worked tirelessly on behalf of former soldiers, those who were released after lengthy captivity (the so-called Spätheimkehrer), and those condemned as war criminals. He took a rather conservative, traditionalist view of how the new German armed forces, theBundeswehr, should be structured and trained.
He was something of a thorn inKonrad Adenauer's side. Adenauer's Christian Democrats were the main government party with which the FDP was in coalition. After the FDP increased its vote in September 1961, in the wake of the building of theBerlin Wall in August 1961, Mende urged his party not to join Adenauer in another coalition. The FDP did not take his advice. He refused to take office, only changing his position onceLudwig Erhard had replaced Adenauer as Chancellor in 1963.
Under Erhard Mende served as Vice-Chancellor (deputy head of government) and Minister for All-German Affairs. His task was to promote relations with Communist East Germany, theGerman Democratic Republic, not then recognised by the West Germans. During his period of officeWest Berliners were permitted, for the first time, to cross the Wall for Christmas visits in December 1963. From 1964, East German senior citizens were allowed to visit West Germany.
Mende inaugurated agreements on road building, especially on the autobahn nearHof to facilitate better communications with West Berlin. Also during his time in office over 4,000 political prisoners held in East German prisons were "bought free" by West Germany.
The FDP lost office in 1966 with the fall of Erhard. His successor at the head of the Christian Democrats,Kurt Georg Kiesinger, decided on a coalition with the main opposition party, theSocial Democrats ofWilly Brandt. In opposition Mende turned his attention to his finances and worked as representative of the American international investment bank, IOS. His party veered to the left and he was replaced in January 1968 byWalter Scheel. He left the Bundestag in 1969.
In the following year the FDP became the junior partner in Brandt's SPD-FDP coalition. In protest against Brandt's newOstpolitik and the recognition of theOder–Neisse line Mende left the FDP[5] in 1970 and joined the Christian Democrats in opposition. His defection did not have much impact on the coalition or his party's fortunes. He served in the Bundestag again as a CDU Member from 1972 through 1980, but failed to make much impact in the ranks of the Christian Democrats.
Erich Mende was married twice. His second wife, the young war widow Margot Hansen, he met in 1947 at an FDP meeting. They married a year later. Margot Mende played an active role in her husband's career. His sonWalter Mende (born 14 July 1944 inOels) was theOberbürgermeister (Lord Mayor) ofLeverkusen from 1994 to 1999.
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| Preceded by | Vice Chancellor of Germany 1963 – 1966 | Succeeded by |
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