Ole von Beust | |
|---|---|
 Ole von Beust at theSteuben Parade in 2006 | |
| First Mayor of Hamburg | |
| In office 31 October 2001 –25 August 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Ortwin Runde |
| Succeeded by | Christoph Ahlhaus |
| President of the German Bundesrat | |
| In office 2007–2008 | |
| President | Horst Köhler |
| Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
| Preceded by | Harald Ringstorff |
| Succeeded by | Peter Müller |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Carl-Friedrich Arp Ole von Beust (1955-04-13)April 13, 1955 (age 70) Hamburg,Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Political party | Christian Democratic Union (Germany) |
| Residence | Hamburg |
| Alma mater | University of Hamburg |
| Signature |  |
Carl-Friedrich Arp Ole Freiherr[a] von Beust, generally calledOle von Beust, born 13 April 1955, inHamburg,Germany, was Ole von BeustFirst Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (German:Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg) from 31 October 2001 to 25 August 2010, serving asPresident of theBundesrat from 1 November 2007 on for one year.[1] He was followed as mayor byChristoph Ahlhaus.
He is the son ofAchim Helge Freiherr von Beust and Hanna, née Wolff, who was consideredhalf Jewish inNazi Germany.[2] Through his father he is a descendant ofSaxon and Austrian statesman CountFriedrich Ferdinand von Beust.
In 1971 von Beust became member of the conservativeChristian Democratic Union (CDU). In 1973, after finishing high school, he worked for the CDU group in Hamburg's city-stateparliament ("Bürgerschaft"), a position he held until he started to study law in 1975 at theUniversity of Hamburg.[2] From 1977 until 1983 he was Hamburg president of the youth organisation of his party. Since 1978 Beust has been a member of the Hamburg city-state's parliament.[2] In 1983 he successfully completed his studies and became an independent lawyer.[2]
He has been a member of the ruling council of the Hamburg Land CDU since 1992, and of the national ruling council of the CDU party since 1998.
On 31 October 2001, Ole von Beust became First Mayor of Hamburg.[2]
On 19 August 2003, Beust dismissed his vice-mayorRonald Schill, causing a scandal. Beust had earlier dismissed Walter Wellinghausen, senator of the interior and Schill's most important official, without consulting Schill beforehand. This was due to public allegations of misconduct on Wellinghausen's part. In a private conversation, Schill then demanded that Beust take back the dismissal, allegedly using personal threats. Beust then decided to dismiss Schill as well.
In the press conference Schill held minutes after he had heard of his own dismissal, he spoke vaguely of "homosexual relationships", a "flat in an infamous hustler district" and "certain things happened that let one infer the occurrence of love acts" between Beust and Roger Kusch, who Beust had appointed minister (in German city-states "senator") of justice.[3] Beust in turn stated that Schill threatened to make his alleged liaison with Kusch public under the premise that Beust intermingled public and private affairs. He said he had no sexual relationship with Kusch, that they merely knew each other for 25 years and were good friends, and that Beust was Kusch's landlord. "This is all – absolutely all", according to Beust.[3][4]
His unprepared statement to the press quickly earned Schill anhomophobic reputation. A popular radio-station broadcast a song calling him "Mega-Proll" (mega redneck) and gay and lesbian associations protested vocally. Schill however later affirmed Beust's version of the story, except for the accusations ofblackmail, saying that he warned Beust to stay clear ofnepotism, and that this had nothing to do with Beust's sexual orientation. He stated "I have nothing againsthomosexuals".[5]
In a later interview, Beust's father confirmed that his son is indeed homosexual.[6] Beust himself considers his sexual orientation a private matter; when asked directly he usually ironically refers the interviewer to his father.
TheHamburg elections of 29 February 2004, ended with an unprecedented landslide victory for Ole von Beust and the CDU, with the party achieving absolute majority in the city-state's parliament.[4] The CDU gained 47.2 percent of the vote, a full 21-point increase from the previous election in September 2001. This was the first time since 1993 the city-state has had only a single ruling party. In theHamburg elections of 24 February 2008, the CDU gained 42.6 percent of the vote. Thus, the CDU continued to be the strongest party in Hamburg.[7] However, since the CDU lost its absolute majority, it formed a coalition government with theGreens.[8]
On 18 July 2010 Ole von Beust declared his resignation effective 25 August.[9] He was a finalist for the 2010World Mayor prize.
First Mayors ofHamburg since 1919 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Weimar period (1919-1933) |  | |
| Nazi period (1933-1945) | ||
| Modern Hamburg (since 1945) | ||
