He was President of the German Council on Foreign Relations and was involved with several international organisations, and with former Czech President Václav Havel, he called for a Cold War museum to be built in Berlin. == Biography == ===Early life=== Genscher was born on 21 March 1927 in Reideburg (Province of Saxony), now a part of Halle, in what later became East Germany.
In 1943, he was drafted to serve as a member of the Air Force Support Personnel (Luftwaffenhelfer) at the age of 16.
Propyläen, Berlin, 2015, . == See also == Politics of Germany History of Germany since 1945 == References == ==Further reading== Wilsford, David, ed.
Following World War II, he studied law and economics at the universities of Halle and Leipzig (1946–1949) and joined the East German Liberal Democratic Party (LDPD) in 1946. === Political career === In 1952, Genscher fled to West Germany, where he joined the Free Democratic Party (FDP).
Following World War II, he studied law and economics at the universities of Halle and Leipzig (1946–1949) and joined the East German Liberal Democratic Party (LDPD) in 1946. === Political career === In 1952, Genscher fled to West Germany, where he joined the Free Democratic Party (FDP).
He passed his second state examination in law in Hamburg in 1954 and became a solicitor in Bremen.
From 1956 to 1959 he was a research assistant of the FDP parliamentary group in Bonn.
From 1956 to 1959 he was a research assistant of the FDP parliamentary group in Bonn.
From 1959 to 1965 he was the FDP group managing director, while from 1962 to 1964 he was National Secretary of the FDP. In 1965 Genscher was elected on the North Rhine-Westphalian FDP list to the West German parliament and remained a member of parliament until his retirement in 1998.
From 1959 to 1965 he was the FDP group managing director, while from 1962 to 1964 he was National Secretary of the FDP. In 1965 Genscher was elected on the North Rhine-Westphalian FDP list to the West German parliament and remained a member of parliament until his retirement in 1998.
From 1959 to 1965 he was the FDP group managing director, while from 1962 to 1964 he was National Secretary of the FDP. In 1965 Genscher was elected on the North Rhine-Westphalian FDP list to the West German parliament and remained a member of parliament until his retirement in 1998.
From 1959 to 1965 he was the FDP group managing director, while from 1962 to 1964 he was National Secretary of the FDP. In 1965 Genscher was elected on the North Rhine-Westphalian FDP list to the West German parliament and remained a member of parliament until his retirement in 1998.
He was elected deputy national chairman in 1968.
From 1969 he served as minister of the interior in the SPD-FDP coalition government led by Chancellor Willy Brandt. In 1974 he became foreign minister and vice chancellor, both posts he would hold for 18 years.
Genscher's popularity with Israel declined further when he endorsed the release of the three captured attackers following the hijacking of a Lufthansa aircraft on 29 October 1972. In the SPD–FDP coalition, Genscher helped shape Brandt's policy of deescalation with the communist East, commonly known as Ostpolitik, which was continued under chancellor Helmut Schmidt after Brandt's resignation in 1974.
From 1969 he served as minister of the interior in the SPD-FDP coalition government led by Chancellor Willy Brandt. In 1974 he became foreign minister and vice chancellor, both posts he would hold for 18 years.
From 1 October 1974 to 23 February 1985 he was Chairman of the FDP.
Genscher's popularity with Israel declined further when he endorsed the release of the three captured attackers following the hijacking of a Lufthansa aircraft on 29 October 1972. In the SPD–FDP coalition, Genscher helped shape Brandt's policy of deescalation with the communist East, commonly known as Ostpolitik, which was continued under chancellor Helmut Schmidt after Brandt's resignation in 1974.
At the time, the Reagan Administration questioned whether Germany was straying from the Western alliance and following a program of its own. In 1984, Genscher became the first Western foreign minister to visit Tehran since the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
Das System Genscher und die Entspannungspolitik im Zweiten Kalten Krieg 1979–1982/83.
"Fundamental to Genscherism was said to be the belief that Germany could play a role as a bridge between East and West without losing its status as a reliable NATO ally." In the 1980s, Genscher opposed the deployment of new short-range NATO missiles in Germany.
For this purpose, he visited Poland to meet the chairman of Solidarity Lech Wałęsa as early as January 1980.
It was during his tenure as party chairman that the FDP switched from being the junior member of social-liberal coalition to being the junior member of the 1982 coalition with the CDU/CSU.
At the time, the Reagan Administration questioned whether Germany was straying from the Western alliance and following a program of its own. In 1984, Genscher became the first Western foreign minister to visit Tehran since the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
From 1 October 1974 to 23 February 1985 he was Chairman of the FDP.
In 1985 he gave up the post of national chairman.
In 1988, he appointed Jürgen Hellner as West Germany's new ambassador to Libya, a post that had been vacant since the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing, a tragedy which U.S.
Especially from 1987 he campaigned for an "active relaxation" policy response by the West to the Soviet efforts.
Bonn Aktuell, Stuttgart 1987, . Zukunftsverantwortung.
In 1988, he appointed Jürgen Hellner as West Germany's new ambassador to Libya, a post that had been vacant since the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing, a tragedy which U.S.
In the years before German reunification, he made a point of maintaining strong ties with his birthplace Halle, which was regarded as significant by admirers and critics alike. When thousands of East Germans sought refuge in West German embassies in Czechoslovakia and Poland, Genscher held discussions on the refugee crisis at the United Nations in New York with the foreign ministers of Czechoslovakia, Poland, East Germany and the Soviet Union in September 1989.
Genscher's 30 September 1989 speech from the balcony of the German embassy in Prague was an important milestone on the road to the end of the GDR.
Wie 1989 der Mut zur Freiheit die Geschichte veränderte, mit Karel Vodička.
He negotiated the German reunification in 1990 with his counterpart from the GDR, Markus Meckel.
On 12 September 1990 he signed the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany on behalf of West Germany.
In November 1990, Genscher and his Polish counterpart Krzysztof Skubiszewski signed the German-Polish Border Treaty on the establishment of the Oder–Neisse line as Poland's western border.
Buchverlag Der Morgen, Berlin 1990, . Unterwegs zur Einheit.
influence in a post-Cold War Europe. === Post-reunification === In 1991, Genscher successfully pushed for Germany's recognition of the Republic of Croatia in the Croatian War of Independence shortly after JNA entered Vukovar.
In January 1991, Germany sent Genscher on a state visit to Israel and followed up with an agreement to provide the Jewish state with $670 million in military aid, including financing for two submarines long coveted by Israel, a battery of Patriot missiles to defend against Iraqi missiles, 58 armored vehicles specially fitted to detect chemical and biological attacks, and a shipment of gas masks.
Siedler, Berlin 1991, . Wir wollen ein europäisches Deutschland.
Siedler, Berlin 1991, Goldmann 1992 . Politik aus erster Hand.
They stand for the triumph of creative freedom over barbarism." On 18 May 1992 Genscher retired at his own request from the federal government, which he had been member of for a total of 23 years.
He had announced his decision three weeks earlier, on 27 April 1992.
In late 1992, Genscher was appointed chairman of a newly established donors' board of the Berlin State Opera.
Siedler, Berlin 1991, Goldmann 1992 . Politik aus erster Hand.
Nordwestdeutsche Verlags-Gesellschaft, Bremerhaven 1992, . Kommentare.
After a poll taken for Stern magazine showed him to be the favored candidate of 48 percent of German voters, he reiterated in 1993 that he would "in no case" accept the presidency. Having finished his political career, Genscher remained active as a lawyer and in international organizations.
In a surprise decision, however, a majority of the FDP parliamentary group rejected her nomination and voted instead to name Justice Minister Klaus Kinkel to head the Foreign Ministry. == Activities after politics == Ahead of the German presidential election in 1994, Genscher proclaimed his lack of interest in the position, but was nonetheless widely considered a leading contender.
ECON-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Düsseldorf/Wien 1994, . Erinnerungen.
Siedler, Berlin 1995, ; Goldmann, München 1997, . Sternstunde der Deutschen.
Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary (Greenwood, 1995) pp 155–64. == Literature == Bresselau von Bressensdorf, Agnes: Frieden durch Kommunikation.
Between 1997 and 2010, Genscher was affiliated with the law firm Büsing, Müffelmann & Theye.
Siedler, Berlin 1995, ; Goldmann, München 1997, . Sternstunde der Deutschen.
From 1959 to 1965 he was the FDP group managing director, while from 1962 to 1964 he was National Secretary of the FDP. In 1965 Genscher was elected on the North Rhine-Westphalian FDP list to the West German parliament and remained a member of parliament until his retirement in 1998.
He founded his own consulting firm, Hans-Dietrich Genscher Consult GmbH, in 2000.
Hohenheim, Stuttgart/Leipzig 2000, . Die Chance der Deutschen.
Between 2001 and 2003, he served as president of the German Council on Foreign Relations.
In 2001, Genscher headed an arbitration that ended a monthlong battle between German airline Lufthansa and its pilots' union and resulted in an agreement on increasing wages by more than 15 percent by the end of the following year. In 2008, Genscher joined former Czech President Václav Havel, former United States Ambassador to Germany John Kornblum and several other well-known political figures in calling for a Cold War museum to be built at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin.
Genscher had first met Khodorkovsky in 2002 and had chaired a conference at which Khodorkovsky blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin's pursuit of his oil company.
Nomos-Verlag, Baden-Baden 2002, . Mittag, Jürgen: In: 60 Jahre Europäische Bewegung Deutschland, Berlin 2009, S.
Between 2001 and 2003, he served as president of the German Council on Foreign Relations.
In 2001, Genscher headed an arbitration that ended a monthlong battle between German airline Lufthansa and its pilots' union and resulted in an agreement on increasing wages by more than 15 percent by the end of the following year. In 2008, Genscher joined former Czech President Václav Havel, former United States Ambassador to Germany John Kornblum and several other well-known political figures in calling for a Cold War museum to be built at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin.
Pendo, München 2008, . Die Rolle Europas im Kontext der Globalisierung, in: Caroline Y.
In 2009 Genscher expressed public concern at Pope Benedict XVI's lifting of excommunication of the bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X.
Nomos-Verlag, Baden-Baden 2002, . Mittag, Jürgen: In: 60 Jahre Europäische Bewegung Deutschland, Berlin 2009, S.
Between 1997 and 2010, Genscher was affiliated with the law firm Büsing, Müffelmann & Theye.
Khodorkovsky asked his lawyers during a 2011 prison visit to let Genscher help mediate early release.
6), Baden-Baden 2011, (Hrsg.): Nach vorn gedacht … Perspektiven deutscher Aussenpolitik.
6), Baden-Baden 2011, . Zündfunke aus Prag.
Once Putin was re-elected in 2012, German Chancellor Angela Merkel instructed her officials to lobby for the president to meet Genscher.
The subsequent negotiations involved two meetings between Genscher and Putin – one at Berlin Tegel Airport at the end of Putin's first visit to Germany after he was re-elected in 2012, the other in Moscow.
Schöningh, Paderborn 2012, . Lucas, Hans-Dieter (Hrsg.): Genscher, Deutschland und Europa.
It is about respect for the victims of crimes against humanity", Genscher said. On 20 December 2013, it was revealed that Genscher played a key role in coordinating the release and flight to Germany of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of Yukos.
When Khodorkovsky's mother was in a Berlin hospital with cancer in November 2013, Genscher passed a message to Khodorkovsky suggesting the prisoner should write a pardon letter to Putin emphasizing his mother's ill health.
Following Putin's pardoning of Khodorkovsky "for humanitarian reasons" in December 2013, a private plane provided by Genscher brought Khodorkovsky to Berlin for a family reunion at the Hotel Adlon. Genscher signed on in 2014 to be a member of the Southern Corridor Advisory Panel, a BP-led consortium which includes former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Peter Sutherland, chairman of Goldman Sachs International.
Following Putin's pardoning of Khodorkovsky "for humanitarian reasons" in December 2013, a private plane provided by Genscher brought Khodorkovsky to Berlin for a family reunion at the Hotel Adlon. Genscher signed on in 2014 to be a member of the Southern Corridor Advisory Panel, a BP-led consortium which includes former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Peter Sutherland, chairman of Goldman Sachs International.
dtv, München 2014, . Meine Sicht der Dinge.
Propyläen, Berlin, 2015, . == See also == Politics of Germany History of Germany since 1945 == References == ==Further reading== Wilsford, David, ed.
Berlin, De Gruyter Oldenbourg 2015, . Brauckhoff, Kerstin, Schwaetzer, Ingrid (Hrsg.): Hans-Dietrich Genschers Außenpolitik.
Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2015, . Heumann, Hans-Dieter: Hans-Dietrich Genscher.
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