Rainer Barzel | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Barzel in 1962 | |
| President of the Bundestag West Germany | |
| In office 29 March 1983 – 25 October 1984 | |
| Preceded by | Richard Stücklen |
| Succeeded by | Philipp Jenninger |
| Federal Minister of Intra-German Relations | |
| In office 4 October 1982 – 29 March 1983 | |
| Chancellor | Helmut Kohl |
| Preceded by | Egon Franke |
| Succeeded by | Heinrich Windelen |
| In office 14 December 1962 – 11 October 1963 All-German Affairs | |
| Chancellor | Konrad Adenauer |
| Preceded by | Ernst Lemmer |
| Succeeded by | Erich Mende |
| Leader of the Christian Democratic Union | |
| In office 5 October 1971 – 12 June 1973 | |
| General Secretary | Kurt Biedenkopf |
| Preceded by | Kurt Georg Kiesinger |
| Succeeded by | Helmut Kohl |
| Leader of theCDU/CSU Group in theBundestag | |
| In office 1 December 1964 – 9 May 1973 | |
| First Deputy | Franz Josef Strauß Richard Stücklen |
| Preceded by | Heinrich von Brentano |
| Succeeded by | Karl Carstens |
| Member of theBundestag forNorth Rhine-Westphalia | |
| In office 4 November 1980 – 18 February 1987 | |
| Constituency | Party-list proportional representation |
| Member of theBundestag forPaderborn – Wiedenbrück | |
| In office 15 October 1957 – 4 November 1980 | |
| Preceded by | Maria Niggemeyer |
| Succeeded by | Heinrich Pohlmeier |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Rainer Candidus Barzel 20 June 1924 Braunsberg,East Prussia, Germany (Weimar Republic) |
| Died | 26 August 2006(2006-08-26) (aged 82) Munich,Bavaria, Germany |
| Political party | Christian Democratic Union |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | University of Cologne |
Rainer Candidus Barzel (20 June 1924 – 26 August 2006) was a German politician of theChristian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as the eighthpresident of the Bundestag from 1983 to 1984.
Barzel had been the leader of his parliamentary group and a short time federal minister, before his party went into opposition in 1969. Subsequently, Barzel became chairman of the party. He tried to become federal chancellor via a constructive vote of no confidence in 1972, leading the first such attempt in the Federal Republic. He unexpectedly came two votes short. In the subsequent general elections of November 1972, he was the unsuccessful main candidate of the CDU/CSU. He lost his chairmanship the year after but remained an influential member of the parliament.
Born inBraunsberg,East Prussia (present-day Braniewo,Poland), Barzel served as Chairman of the CDU from 1971 to 1973 and ran as the CDU's candidate forChancellor of Germany in the1972 federal elections, losing toWilly Brandt'sSPD.
Barzel served asMinister of All-German Affairs (1962–63) underKonrad Adenauer, asParliamentary group leader of the CDU/CSU (1964–1973), asMinister of Intra-German Relations (1982–1983) inHelmut Kohl's cabinet, and asPresident of the Bundestag (1983–1984).
The 1972 election is commonly regarded as an indirect referendum on Chancellor Brandt'sOstpolitik (Eastern Policy), which called for normalized relations withEast Germany and theSoviet Union, which Barzel vehemently opposed. On 27 April 1972 Barzel and the CDU/CSU tabled aconstructive vote of no confidence against Brandt's government. Due to several SPD and FDP members switching to the CDU and a number of FDP members withdrawing support for the coalition, on paper the CDU had just enough support to oust Brandt and make BarzelChancellor of Germany.
The implications of this vote were far-reaching. Brandt's initial reaction was that he, along with his policy of Ostpolitik, was finished. Several German trade unions went on strike in anticipation of his loss in the no-confidence motion. However, in the final tally, the motion received 247 votes, two short of the 249 needed to expel Brandt from office. Persuasive evidence subsequently emerged that two members of Barzel's caucus,Julius Steiner [de] (CDU) andLeo Wagner (CSU) had been bribed by the East GermanMinistry for State Security.[1][a] Details of the alleged East German involvement remain hazy, however: not all commentators are persuaded that East German bribes were the most decisive factor in the tantalisingly narrow failure of the no-confidence vote.[3]
The government, in consideration of the fact that it had lost its effective parliamentary majority and that parliamentary work was stalled, reacted by deliberately losing a vote of confidence, which then allowedPresidentGustav Heinemann to dissolve the Bundestag and call early elections, which Brandt and the SPD handily won. 1972 was the only time between the war andGerman reunification that saw the SPD place first in a federal German election, and it still represents the SPD's high-water mark in vote share. That year's elections had the highest turnout of any German federal election at 91.1%, one of the highest turnouts ever recorded in national elections withoutmandatory voting.
Within the CDU group of the German parliament, Barzel's credibility suffered when it became apparent that he had lied about substantial outside income from work as a lawyer outside parliament.
It was neither the lost no-confidence motion nor the lost parliamentary elections that, on 8 May 1973, eventually prompted Barzel to resign from both the CDU party chair and the leadership of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. It was the refusal by the parliamentary group to support a government bill for the accession of both German states to theUnited Nations. He was the first leader of the CDU who stood down without ever becoming Chancellor.
In 1982, Barzel married the political scientistHelga Henselder-Barzel.[4]
Barzel retired from political life in 1984 after he was accused of being entangled in theFlick affair, a charge rejected by the Flick inquiry committee and the prosecuting authorities two years later.
Barzel died inMunich,Bavaria, after a long illness, on 26 August 2006, aged 82.
