Wolfgang Wieland | |
|---|---|
 Wieland in 2006 | |
| Member of the Bundestag | |
| In office 18 October 2005 – 22 October 2013 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1948-03-09)9 March 1948 Berlin, Germany |
| Died | 5 December 2023(2023-12-05) (aged 75) |
| Political party | Alliance 90/The Greens |
| Education | |
| Occupation |
|
Wolfgang Wieland (9 March 1948 – 5 December 2023) was a German lawyer and politician. He was a co-founder of the Berlin Alternative Liste (AL), a precursor of theAlliance 90/The Greens. He was a member of the parliament of the city of Berlin from 1987 to 1989 (AL) and from 1991 to 2004.
As a lawyer he defendedFritz Teufel of theAußerparlamentarische Opposition (APO), and represented the joint plaintiff in theMykonos restaurant assassinations, among others.
Wieland was born inBerlin on 9 March 1948.[1] He grew up in a Protestant family inFrankfurt[2] where he completed school with theAbitur. He studied law first in Frankfurt[1] and from 1967 at theFree University of Berlin.[3] On 2 June he took part in aAußerparlamentarische Opposition (APO) demonstration where he witnessed thekilling of Benno Ohnesorg by a policeman. Wieland said he identified with Ohnesorg as the attack could have happened to anyone.[3] Wieland completed the firststate exam in 1973 and the second in 1976.[1]
Wieland worked in aSozietät [de] of lawyers from 1977.[1][4] In 1978 to 1980, he defendedFritz Teufel,[2] one of the leading figures of the APO, who was accused of involvement in the murder ofGünter von Drenkmann, President of the Court of Appeal, and in the kidnapping ofPeter Lorenz.[4] He represented the joint plaintiff in theMykonos restaurant assassinations of survivors of the Islamist attack in Berlin-Wilmersdorf in 1992 commissioned by the secret service of the Iranian mullah regime.[2][5]
In 1978, Wieland was a founding member ofThe Greens in Berlin,[1][6] then namedAlternative Liste für Demokratie und Umweltschutz (AL).[1]
The AL entered the Berlin city parliament in 1987; Wieland was a member until 1989, and again for the Greens from 1991 to 2004, often as leader of the faction.[6] He was the voice of criticism from the opposition of the grand coalition of mayorEberhard Diepgen (CDU) andKlaus Böger [de] (SPD). After that coalition broke in 2001, he served as senator of justice from June 2001 to January 2002, under mayorKlaus Wowereit,[6] until Wowereit formed a red-red coalition.[2]
In September 2004, Wieland was a candidate for the Greens in Brandenburg. He was a member of theBundestag from 2005 to 2013, mostly interested in interior politics and security.[1]
Wieland was a member of several organisations. In Berlin, he was on the board of the Deutsche Gesellschaft (German Society) and the Deutsche Vereinigung für Parlamentsfragen (German association for parliamentary questions). He served as vice president of the Förderkreis Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas, for theMemorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. He was member of the foundation council of the Stiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur (Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship). He was a member of theVolksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge inKassel, maintaining the graves of soldiers of the World Wars.[1]
Wieland was married to a judge;[2] the couple had two daughters.[3][6] He said in a 2003 interview that he had no intentions of leaving Berlin because of the family, and therefore had no ambitions for national politics withBonn as the seat of the Bundestag.[3]
Wieland died on 5 December 2023, at age 75, after a serious illness.[2][5][6]