Karl Theodor Maria Georg Achaz Eberhardt Josef Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg (23 May 1921 – 4 October 1972) was aGerman politician of theChristian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU). He was parliamentary secretary of state in theChancellor's Office in the government ofKurt Georg Kiesinger from 1967 until 1969, as well as the foreign policy spokesman of theCDU/CSU group in theBundestag. Guttenberg was perceived as a conservative anticommunist as well as a proponent of European integration. His work was mostly within the field of foreign policy.
Guttenberg served as an officer during World War II, but was punished for anti-Nazi statements[citation needed] and became, through his uncleKarl Ludwig Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg, a member of the anti-Nazi resistance in the German army.[citation needed] While his uncle was imprisoned after the20 July plot and executed shortly before the war's end, Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg was taken prisoner of war by the British, and soon after started to work for British propaganda, including theSoldatensender Calais.
Guttenberg owned large estates in Franconia, several hotels as well as the winery Weingut Reichsrat von Buhl in the Palatinate. Himself a member of theHouse of Guttenberg, he married Rosa Sophie Prinzessin von Arenberg, of theHouse of Arenberg, in 1943. Their sonEnoch zu Guttenberg became a conductor as well as inherited Weingut Reichsrat von Buhl. His grandson is the politician and former federal government ministerKarl-Theodor zu Guttenberg.[citation needed]
He became a member of the CSU in 1946, and was a member of theBundestag from 1957 to 1972, where he representedKulmbach. In the Bundestag, he was a noted public speaker and was for several years the foreign policy spokesman of the CDU/CSU group. Guttenberg was a fierce critic of theOstpolitik ofWilly Brandt. After Brandt's government had recognized the existence of "a second German state" (theGerman Democratic Republic), he called it a "dark hour". While most of the CDU/CSU group abstained during the vote on theBasic Treaty, 1972, Guttenberg voted against. In a speech, he stated: "The "GDR" must be revealed to the world for what it is: Not a state, but a caricature of a state".[citation needed]
A Roman Catholic, Guttenberg became a Knight of theOrder of the Holy Sepulchre in 1957. He received the Grand Cross of theOrder of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1972.
He died ofamyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 1972, aged 51.
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