Wolfgang Mischnick (29 September 1921 – 6 October 2002) was a Germanliberal politician (FDP). From 1961 to 1963 he wasFederal Minister for Expellees, Refugees and War Victims and from 1968 to 1991Chairman of the FDPparliamentary group andopposition leader from 1968/69.
Mischnick was born 29 September 1921 and grew up inDresden. After receiving his graduation from high school 1939, he was drafted into the military until the end of thewar. As a former lieutenant in theWehrmacht, theSoviet occupying forces forbade him to study engineering. As co-founder 1945 of theLDP in Dresden Mischnick was banned from writing and speaking very soon.[1] To avoid arrest, he fled 1948 toFrankfurt am Main, where he joined the FDP.
From 1957[2] to 1994 Wolfgang Mischnick was a member of theGerman Bundestag. From 1959 to 1961 he was Parliamentary Managing Director of the FDP parliamentary group.[1]
After the Bundestag election in 1961, Mischnick was appointed Minister for Expellees, Refugees and War Victims in the federal government led by ChancellorKonrad Adenauer as the youngest minister.[3] In 1963 he was deputy chairman and in 1968 chairman of the FDP parliamentary group. As such, he served as opposition leader until theBrandt government took office on 1969. In 1982 he argued for continuing the coalition with theSPD[4] but to preserve party unity, supported the shift of support the (CDU/CSU).[5]
In 1991, Mischnick left the office of parliamentary group chairman at his own request, which he held longer than any other parliamentary group chairman in the history of the Bundestag.[6] Afterreunion Mischnick played a leading role in merging the FDP and the LDPD in 1989-90.[4] He than entered the Bundestag via the state list ofSaxony,[7] though previously he had always become a Bundestag member via the state list of Hesse.
Mischnick was considered a committed social politician[8] and sports sponsor. His main focus was on German-German relations[7][9][2] and reconciliation with the East.[4][10] 1973 he traveled withHerbert Wehner (SPD) to a meeting with the Chairman of the State CouncilErich Honecker in theGDR to improve the relations.
From 1987 to 1995 Mischnick was chairman of the FDP-affiliatedFriedrich Naumann Foundation inGummersbach. There, in the archive of liberalism, can now be found the extensive estate of Mischnick. He died 6 October 2002 inBad Soden (near his home inKronberg).
Mischnick got theGrand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and wasgrand officier de la légion d'honneur. He was awarded with the Great Gold Medal of Honor with Star of the Republic ofAustria and with the Banner Order of theHungarian Republic. He got the Order of Merit of the Free State of Saxony, the Hessian Order of Merit and several other medals.[11][7]
In Dresden a new street was named after him[12] and also inGröditz, the former street Am Osttor was renamed Wolfgang-Mischnick-Straße.[13]
(besides several hundreds of newspaper articles)