Willy Brandt

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Willy Brandt was a German chancellor from 1969 until 1974. He was born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm on December 18th, 1913 in Lübeck Germany. He was the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (1964 – 1987 and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize (1971). He died on October 8th, 1992 in Unkel at the Rhine.

[change] Biography

He was born as son of Martha Frahm and John Möller in 1913 in Lübeck. He never met his father and grew up with his mother and his grandfather.

He flew to Norway when the Nazis took over government in Germany. He lead a contact office for the resistance against the Nazi regime. After he lost his German citizenship, he became Norwegian. The Germans arrested him when they occupied Norway. He fled to Sweden. In 1945, Brandt returned to Germany as writer for Scandinavian newspapers.

He was married three times:

• Carlotta Thorkildsen - 1940 to 1948
• Rut (Hansen) Bergaust - 1948 to 1980
• Ruth Seebacher - 1983 to 1992

[change] Political Life

His political career started in 1948. He became a representative for the SPD in the Bundestag for a district of Berlin. He was member of the state parliament of Berlin from 1950 until 1971.

He became president of the Parliament of Berlin (1955) and Mayor of Berlin (1957). Willy Brandt started to campaign for the position as Chancellor (Bundeskanzler) for the Social Democrats (SPD) in 1961. In 1966, he became Vice-Chancellor of the "Grand Coalition" of SPD and the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) under Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger. He started the social-liberal coalition between the SPD and the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP). Willy Brandt became Chancellor in 1969.

He made many changes in several political areas. For example:

Society politics

• New divorce laws
• Right of vote was made 18 instead of 21
• Easier to be declared a Conscientious objector

Education politics

• No study fees
• Financial aid for poor students
• Opened more universities

Foreign politics

• The New Eastern Politics of Western Germany.

He travelled to East Germany, Warsaw and Moscow to improve relationships. His acceptance the Oder-Neisse Line and many of controversies in the Parliament and society followed.

In 1971, he got the Nobel Peace Prize for his politics.

In 1972, Rainer Barzel of the CDU believed he could end the Brandt administration, but he failed to win the vote of no-confidence. Brandt was re-elected to a second term later that year. In 1974, Günther Guillaume who worked in Brandt's office was discovered to be a spy. Brandt resigned and Helmut Schmidt became chancellor.

Brandt stayed leader of the SPD, and later of the Socialist International too. He was member of the European Parliament from 1978 to 1983. He gave up the position as chief of the SPD in 1987.

[change] Other websites

• Biography of Willy Brandt
• Willy Brandt Airport

v • d • e Chancellors of Germany
German Empire (1871–1918)	Otto von Bismarck · Leo von Caprivi · Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst · Bernhard von Bülow · Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg · Georg Michaelis · Georg von Hertling · Prince Maximilian of Baden
Revolutionary period (1918–1919)	Friedrich Ebert
Weimar Republic (1919–1933)	Philipp Scheidemann · Gustav Bauer · Hermann Müller · Konstantin Fehrenbach · Joseph Wirth · Wilhelm Cuno · Gustav Stresemann · Wilhelm Marx · Hans Luther · Wilhelm Marx · Hermann Müller · Heinrich Brüning · Franz von Papen · Kurt von Schleicher
Nazi Germany (1933–1945)	Adolf Hitler · Joseph Goebbels · Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk
Germany (since 1949)	Konrad Adenauer · Ludwig Erhard · Kurt Georg Kiesinger · Willy Brandt ·Walter Scheel acting · Helmut Schmidt · Helmut Kohl · Gerhard Schröder · Angela Merkel

v • d • e Mayors of Berlin since 1948
East Berlin	Friedrich Ebert  · Herbert Fechner  · Erhard Krack  · Ingrid Pankraz  · Dr. Christian Hartenauer  · Tino Schwierzina  · Thomas Krüger
West Berlin	Ernst Reuter · Walther Schreiber · Otto Suhr · Willy Brandt · Heinrich Albertz · Klaus Schütz · Dietrich Stobbe · Hans-Jochen Vogel · Richard von Weizsäcker · Eberhard Diepgen · Walter Momper
Reunited Berlin (since 1990)	Walter Momper · Eberhard Diepgen · Klaus Wowereit

v • d • e Presidents of the Bundesrat (Federal Council)

Karl Arnold • Hans Ehard • Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf • Reinhold Maier • Georg August Zinn • Peter Altmeier • Kai-Uwe von Hassel • Kurt Sieveking • Willy Brandt • Wilhelm Kaisen • Franz-Josef Röder • Franz Meyers • Hans Ehard • Kurt Georg Kiesinger • Georg Diederichs • Georg August Zinn • Peter Altmeier • Helmut Lemke • Klaus Schütz • Herbert Weichmann • Franz-Josef Röder • Hans Koschnick • Heinz Kühn • Alfons Goppel • Hans Filbinger • Alfred Kubel • Albert Osswald • Bernhard Vogel • Gerhard Stoltenberg • Dietrich Stobbe • Hans-Ulrich Klose • Werner Zeyer • Hans Koschnick • Johannes Rau • Franz Josef Strauß • Lothar Späth • Ernst Albrecht • Holger Börner • Walter Wallmann • Bernhard Vogel • Björn Engholm • Walter Momper • Henning Voscherau • Alfred Gomolka • Berndt Seite • Oskar Lafontaine • Klaus Wedemeier • Johannes Rau • Edmund Stoiber • Erwin Teufel • Gerhard Schröder • Hans Eichel • Roland Koch • Kurt Biedenkopf • Kurt Beck • Klaus Wowereit • Wolfgang Böhmer • Dieter Althaus • Matthias Platzeck • Peter Harry Carstensen • Harald Ringstorff

v • d • e Chairmen of the Social Democratic Party of Germany
SPD (1890-1933)	Paul Singer/Alwin Gerisch · August Bebel/Paul Singer · August Bebel/Hugo Haase · Hugo Haase/Friedrich Ebert · Friedrich Ebert · Friedrich Ebert/Philipp Scheidemann · Otto Wels/Herman Müller · Arthur Crispien/Otto Wels/Herman Müller · Arthur Crispien/Otto Wels · Arthur Crispien/Otto Wels/Hans Vogel
SPD-in-exile (SoPaDe) (1933-1945)	Otto Wels/Hans Vogel · Hans Vogel
SPD (since 1946)	Kurt Schumacher · Erich Ollenhauer · Willy Brandt · Hans-Jochen Vogel · Björn Engholm · Johannes Rau · Rudolf Scharping · Oskar Lafontaine · Gerhard Schröder · Franz Müntefering · Matthias Platzeck · Kurt Beck