Wilhelm Helms | |
|---|---|
 Wilhelm Helms campaign poster | |
| Member of theBundestag | |
| In office 1969–1972 | |
| Member of the European Parliament | |
| In office 17 July 1979 – 23 July 1984 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1923-12-19)19 December 1923 |
| Died | 8 December 2019(2019-12-08) (aged 95) Vechta, Lower Saxony, Germany |
| Political party | German Party The Free Democratic Party (from 1963) |
| Occupation | Politician / Farmer |
Wilhelm Helms (19 December 1923 – 8 December 2019) was a German politician. He served as a member of theBundestag from 1969 to 1972. Helms was notable for his 1972 party switch that threatened to collapse the government ofChancellorWilly Brandt.
Wilhelm Helms was born on 19 December 1923 in the Bissenhausen district ofTwistringen, Germany. His father, Heinrich Helms died in 1941 while his brother, Heinrich, was killed inWorld War II.[1]
After high school, he was drafted into theWehrmacht. He served in a tank crew on the Russian front and left the army in 1945. He worked his family's farm after the war.[1]
In 1956, he became involved in politics as a local councilor in his hometown, becoming the mayor in 1961. In 1963, he switched parties to join theFree Democratic Party and become a regional administrator. The party selected him to its list for the1969 West German federal election and he entered theBundestag. His Free Democrats entered into a coalition with theSocial Democratic Party ofWilly Brandt, giving the ruling coalition 251 votes, a majority of three votes.
Shortly after the1972 Baden‐Württemberg state election in which theCDU/CSU won overwhelmingly, Helms announced that he would leave the Free Democrats and apply for membership in theChristian Democratic Union. With the coalition down to 249 members, Helms’ party switch would shift the balance of power in the Bundestag. The opposition proposed a vote of no-confidence in the government to replace Brandt withRainer Barzel. Helms suggested that he had disagreements over domestic policy and expressed reservations with the governments policy in Eastern Europe. Brandt's government negotiated treaties with theSoviet Union andPoland that would coming for a vote.[2]
At the no-confidence vote, two CDU politicians voted to support Brandt while Helms would not reveal how he had voted. However, he later stated that he would support the vote for the treaties. Helms sat with the CDU for the remainder of his term. In the1972 West German federal election, he was not re-elected to the Bundestag.[1]
In1979, Helms won a seat in theEuropean Parliament from the CDU. He served on the Delegation for relations with Canada, theCommittee on Agriculture and theCommittee on Transport. He left the European Parliament in 1984.[3]
In 1944, he met his wife, Lya Schilmbller, who had been sent to work on the farm. The couple become engaged in 1946 and married in 1948.[1]
In 1990, Helms took issue with Brandt's memoir, which suggested that Helms had a financial motive for switching parties. His suit was unsuccessful.[4]
Helms died on 8 December 2019 inVechta, Germany at the age of 95.[5]
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