Jürgen Kleditzsch | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 Kleditzsch in 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of Labor and Social Affairs | |||||||||||||||||||||
Acting | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 20 August 1990 – 2 October 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister-President | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Regine Hildebrandt | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Position abolished Norbert Blüm(asFederal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of Health | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 12 April 1990 – 2 October 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister-President | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Klaus Thielmann(Health and Social Affairs) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Position abolished Ursula Lehr(asFederal Minister for Youth, Family, Women and Health) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Jürgen Heinz Kleditzsch (1944-01-26)26 January 1944 (age 81) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Independent (2002–) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Other political affiliations | Christian Democratic Union of Germany (1990–2002) Christian Democratic Union (East Germany) (1977–1990) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation |
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Jürgen Kleditzsch (born 26 January 1944) is a German physician and former minister for theEast German Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
He served as the GDR's last Minister of Health in thecabinet ofLothar de Maizière. He also worked as a specialist physician in theNeu-Ulm district of Gerlenhofen and now runs a private orthopedic practice in aBad Wörishofen hotel.
Kleditzsch completed his high school diploma (Abitur) in 1962 and subsequently undertook a one-yearnursinginternship at the Sebnitz District Hospital. From 1963 to 1969, he studiedmedicine atKarl Marx University in Leipzig.[1] After earning hisdoctorate in medicine, he trained as a specialist inphysiotherapy from 1969 to 1974 at theOccupational Health Service aturanium mining companySDAG Wismut and the Kneipp Health Resort inBerggießhübel.[2] He completed his training as a specialist in physiotherapy in 1974. Three years later, he was recognized as a specialist inorthopedics.[2] In 1981, he earned hishabilitation with a thesis onbone healing.[3]
From 1974 to 1989, he worked at the Medical Academy of Dresden, initially as the head of the Physiotherapy Department at the Orthopedic Clinic, and in 1978, he was appointed senior physician of the clinic. In 1985, he took on a teaching position in physiotherapy at the Medical Academy of Dresden and was appointedassociate professor in 1987.[3] From 1988, he led various work and research groups.[4]
Kleditzsch joined the East GermanChristian Democratic Union (CDU), abloc party beholden to the rulingSocialist Unity Party (SED), in 1977.[2] From 1984, he was a member of theBezirk Dresden CDU board, and from 1987, he was the head of its Health Policy Working Group.[1] In December 1989, during thePeaceful Revolution, he was appointedBezirksarzt ofBezirk Dresden,[1] making him the full-time head of the Bezirk's health department and a member of the Bezirk government.[3]
In the first free elections in the GDR, Kleditzsch was elected to theVolkskammer in March 1990 forBezirk Dresden, being the first-placed candidate on the CDU's list.[2] He was thereafter appointed as Minister of Health in thecabinet ofLothar de Maizière, serving from April until October 1990.[2]
Kleditzsch had to deal with the GDR's crumbling health care system during his tenure, many hospitals being in a state of disrepair and suffering from severe labor and material shortages.[5] These problems were exacerbated by thewave of refugees in the summer of 1989. His main concern was to ensure the stability of medical care and at the same time to push ahead with the restructuring of structures.[5] In the few months leading up to the unification of the two German states, around a dozen laws and regulations are passed that create the legal framework for the transfer of the GDR's health care system to a unified Germany.[5] From August 1990, he also served as acting Minister for Labor and Social Affairs in the aftermath of theSPD and their ministers leaving the coalition government.[6]
Kleditzsch was one of 144Volkskammer membersco-opted to theBundestag followingGerman reunification on 3 October 1990. He remained amember of the Bundestag until the end of the 11th legislative period in December 1990, retiring from politics.[4] On 15 September 1990, Kleditzsch had been appointed fullprofessor of physiotherapy at the Medical Academy in Dresden and, with the founding of the Institute for Physical Medicine at the Medical Academy in 1990, he was appointed director of the institution. In 1992, he left the Medical Academy at his own request.[3] He left theCDU in 2002.[4]
Kleditzsch worked as a specialist physician in theNeu-Ulm district of Gerlenhofen[7] and now runs a private orthopedic practice in aBad Wörishofen hotel.[4]