Bodo Hombach

Bodo Hombach, 2012

Bodo Hombach (born August 19, 1952 in Mülheim an der Ruhr ) is a former German politician ( SPD ).

In 1998 he was briefly Minister of Economics in North Rhine-Westphalia and from 1998 to 1999 he was head of the Federal Chancellery for nine months and Federal Minister for special tasks in the first Schröder government . Then Hombach moved to Brussels as the EU special coordinator of the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe .

Life

education and profession

After training as a telecommunications tradesman from 1967 to 1970 at the telecommunications office in Duisburg , Hombach gained admission to a university of applied sciences from 1970 to 1973 on the second educational path. Between 1973 and 1978 he studied at the Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences and at the Duisburg Comprehensive University and graduated as a social worker. Later he was a part-time student at the Fernuniversität Hagen until 1998 .

From 1973 to 1974 Hombach was secretary of the postal union , from 1974 to 1976 personal assistant to the chairman of the North Rhine-Westphalia district of the German trade union federation , from 1976 to 1979 state manager of North Rhine-Westphalia of the education and science union .

Parallel to his activity as a member of the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1990 to 1998 ( Cabinet Rau IV (SPD) and Cabinet Rau V (red-green)), he was managing director of Preussag ( Salzgitter ) Handel GmbH and Preussag ( Salzgitter) International GmbH, from 1988 to 1998 member of the supervisory board of Ruhrkohle Bergbau AG (formerly Bergbau AG Lippe, Ruhrkohle Westfalen AG). Furthermore, Hombach acted from 1995 to 1998 as a member of the advisory board of the working group waterworks and from 1996 to 1998 as a member of the supervisory board of Ruhrwasser AG .

From 1997 to 1998 he was a member of the RWE Energie AG economic advisory board . In April 2008, Hombach was appointed to the University Council of the FernUniversität in Hagen .

Since December 2010, Hombach has been a lecturer at the Institute for Political Science and Sociology at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn . From 2011 to 2013, Bodo Hombach was the moderator of the Initiativkreis Ruhr, an association of around 70 companies from the region. Since November 2011 he has been honorary president of the Bonn Academy for Research and Teaching of Practical Politics (BAPP). The academy is an affiliated institute of the University of Bonn and aims to promote the exchange between politics, business and science. Bodo Hombach has been a lecturer at the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences since October 2012. The Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität appointed him honorary professor in November 2014 . In December 2015, Hombach also became an honorary professor for "Politics and Communication of Socio-Economic Processes" at the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences in Hennef.

State politics

After working as GEW state manager in North Rhine-Westphalia, Hombach was deputy state manager of the SPD North Rhine-Westphalia from 1979 to 1981 and from 1981 to 1991 state manager of the North Rhine-Westphalian SPD. Bodo Hombach exercised his mandate as a member of the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament from 1990 to 1999. In this function he worked as the economic policy spokesman for the SPD and was chairman of the Committee of Inquiry I.

From June 9, 1998 to October 28, 1998, Hombach was Minister for Economy and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Technology and Transport in North Rhine-Westphalia .

In April 2008 he was appointed by Prime Minister Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU) as deputy chairman of the future commission of the North Rhine-Westphalian state government.

Campaign manager

In the 1980s and 1990s, Hombach led a number of election campaigns of the NRW and the Federal SPD and advised on several election campaigns abroad, for example in South Africa with Nelson Mandela . In the 1998 Bundestag election campaign , he played a larger role as an election campaign manager in the SPD and, in his role as an advisor, was discussed by the candidate for chancellor Gerhard Schröder as one of the first German spin doctors . He was portrayed in the FAZ as "The Chancellor Whisperer". He was considered a skilled election campaign strategist and creator of the slogan "We in North Rhine-Westphalia".

Federal politics

After the election victory in October 1998, Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder appointed Hombach to his cabinet as head of the Federal Chancellery and Federal Minister for special tasks . Hombach was previously a close campaign advisor to Schröder and aggressively represented Schröder's concept of the “ new center ”. He turned against the policy of Oskar Lafontaine .

Together with the Briton Peter Mandelson , Hombach developed the strategy paper "The way forward for Europe's social democrats". The draft published in 1999 had become known as the " Schröder-Blair paper ".

European politics

In 1999, at the government's request, Hombach, who was controversial in the government coalition, moved from his previous position as head of the Federal Chancellery to Brussels , where he took on the position of EU special coordinator for the Stability Pact in Southeast Europe . In this function, Hombach headed the Stability Pact and, as chairman of the so-called Regional Table, was responsible for coordinating the organization's three working tables. Hombach was thus responsible, among other things, for the issues of media freedom, infrastructure and the fight against organized crime , corruption and terrorism . As the organizer of the first donor conference in 2000, Hombach collected around 4.7 billion euros for the countries of the Balkans . After Hombach's move to the WAZ Group, Erhard Busek was his successor as special coordinator of the Stability Pact.

Publishing management

From February 2002 to February 2012, Hombach was the managing director of the WAZ media group appointed by the Brost family, and since July 2008 together with Christian Nienhaus.

In October 2007, the WAZ Group launched the Internet portal DerWesten , which bundles the offers from 5 North Rhine-Westphalian daily newspapers of the publisher. In addition, the WAZ media group took over the Braunschweiger Zeitung in 2007 and entered the book business in the same year with the takeover of the Essener Klartext Verlag. A cooperation was concluded with ZDF in September 2009 so that ZDF video contributions are integrated into the news portal DerWesten .

In May 2007, the WAZ media group published a code of conduct for employees, according to which, among other things, a separation of editorial and advertising in the WAZ is planned.

With the newly planned corporate strategy, around 260 of the 900 positions at WAZ titles in North Rhine-Westphalia should be eliminated from 2009. According to the company, 275 employees had been laid off by July 2009. A further reduction in jobs and the bundling of activities were then also planned for the titles in East Germany. The dismissal of the editor-in-chief of the Thüringer Allgemeine Sergej Lochthofen , who had rejected Hombach's plans, caused a controversy in the region and among the editorial staff.

With the sale of the shares of the heirs of Erich Brost to Petra Grotkamp, ​​Hombach ended his activities as managing director of the WAZ media group in February 2012.

Political science

Hombach, a lecturer at the Institute for Political Science and Sociology , became President of the Bonn Academy for Research and Teaching of Practical Politics in November 2011 . This acts as a so-called affiliate of the University of Bonn . Teaching began in the 2012/13 winter semester. In November 2014 the Rector of the University of Bonn, Jürgen Fohrmann , appointed him honorary professor. In December 2015, Hombach also became honorary professor of "Politics and Communication of Socio-Economic Processes" at the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences in Faculty 6, Hennef.

Foundation work

Hombach has been Deputy Chairman of the Brost Foundation since June 2011 .

Honors, awards and voluntary work

In 1996 he was awarded the Georg Schulhoff Prize for his services to vocational education . In the same year he also received the badge of honor from the West German Chamber of Crafts . In July 2002, Hombach was awarded the “European Bull” by the European Taxpayers Association. The pressure group had recognized that Hombach had spent less money than he was entitled to according to the budget. In December 2006 Bodo Hombach was awarded the Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia . On November 16, 2009, Bodo Hombach was awarded the Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by the then Federal President Horst Köhler . On March 28, 2014, Hombach received the Mérite Européen order .

Writings and speeches (selection)

• About the Internet and the delimitation of cultural and temporal living spaces . In: Hubert Burda, Mathias Döpfner, Bodo Hombach, Jürgen Rüttgers (eds.): 2020 - thoughts on the future of the internet . Klartext, Essen, 2010, pp. 239–246. ISBN 978-3-8375-0376-0 .
• Publishers are reinventing themselves. Media in the socio-political area of ​​tension . Lecture by Bodo Hombach at the beginning of his teaching activities at the Institute for Political Science and Sociology of the University of Bonn on December 8, 2010 in Bonn.
• Please disturb! Newspaper publishers are reinventing themselves . Speech by Bodo Hombach to the Media Policy Committee of the Bavarian Economic Council on November 11, 2010 in Munich.
• Collective intelligence. About "Rhenish Capitalism" before its own future and the need for a new way of thinking . In: Klaus Engel, Michael Vassiliadis (ed.): Values ​​knowledge growth. What Germany has to do . Hoffmann and Campe Verlag, Hamburg 2010, pp. 107–115.
• On the silk road . In: The Bridge Builder - Festschrift for Klaus Mangold . Berlin 2010, pp. 144–145.
• Rumors kitchen - a fuzzy dossier . In: epd Medien, October 16, 2010, Frankfurt / Main 2010.

Homeownership Affair

In 1998 and 1999, Hombach was assumed to have received six-figure price reductions from the Veba Group when building his new home. The case was opened by the Bochum public prosecutor. In 1999 she came to the conclusion: "We have no knowledge of any criminal behavior on the part of Mr. Hombach in connection with this house construction." Prices as designated within the framework of the usual.

Hombach took legal action against the statements. The senior civil engineer who had built Hombach's house in the late 1990s was also heard in proceedings before the Hamburg Regional Court . In the first trial in 1999, he initially denied Veba gifts, but then withdrew his earlier statements and was convicted of perjury. Years later, in the court case before the Hamburg Regional Court , the site manager said he knew nothing about Hombach's alleged preferences. "I was never discussed about this, and I never received any documents about it." He admitted the alleged perjury because he felt under pressure while in custody. Five other witnesses, who allegedly knew something incriminating, could not give any specific details in the trial either.

In July 2007 the LG Hamburg forbade Michael Dichand, son of the publisher Hans Dichand, to claim that Hombach had financed his house from VEBA and that WAZ was doing business with organized crime in Croatia. The statements violate Hombach's general personal rights and are likely to demean him “to a very considerable extent”. Dichand's appeal was unsuccessful and the revision was not allowed. His complaint to the Federal Court of Justice was rejected on September 16, 2008.

Hombach later sold the house for 1.3 million. According to Hans Leyendecker, the costs with the lawyers and experts were € 300,000.

See also

Cabinet Clement I - Cabinet Schröder I

Web links

• Website by Bodo Hombach
• Literature by and about Bodo Hombach in the catalog of the German National Library
• Patron in the district . Focus , June 25, 2012

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Handbook of the North Rhine-Westphalian State Parliament
2. ↑ bodo-hombach.de ( Memento of the original from April 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Personal website of Bodo Hombach 
3. ↑ socziologie.uni-bonn.de ( Memento of the original from March 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ New IR moderator duo will start work on January 1st. ( Memento from August 2, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
5. ↑ www.bapp-bonn.de
6. ↑ Hombach heads the new academy in Bonn . Bonner Generalanzeiger from December 10, 2011
7. ↑ BAPP website ( Memento of the original from May 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
8. ^ Bodo Hombach at the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia
9. ↑ Tina Hildebrandt : The Sultan of the Ruhr. Publishing manager Bodo Hombach on the future of the newspaper, his emergency baptism and a late satisfaction . In: Die Zeit , No. 48/2008
10. ↑ Werner A. Perger: Happy too early is half lost. The SPD candidate for Chancellor got off to a brilliant start. Not least thanks to Bodo Hombach . In: Die Zeit , No. 13/1998
11. ↑ Klaus Kamps: Political Communication Management: Basics and Professionalization of Modern Political Communication . VS Verlag, 2007, pp. 184-185
12. ↑ The Chancellor Whisperer . In: FAZ , March 17, 1999, p. 49
13. ^ The way forward for Europe's social democrats , June 8, 1999, documented at Glasnost Archive
14. ↑ Starting signal for the modernization process - Interview with Bodo Hombach . In: Die Welt , June 11, 1999
15. ↑ Power man in the Chancellery . In: Der Spiegel . No. 26 , 1999, pp. 22nd ff . ( online - cover story). From boss BK to Mr. Balkan . In: Der Spiegel . No.  26 , 1999, pp. 24 ff . ( online - cover story).
16. ^ Change of ministers in Berlin ( Memento of March 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive ). WDR Online, 2002
17. ↑ stabilitypact.org ( Memento of the original from December 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Stability Pact website 
18. ↑ stabilitypact.org ( Memento of the original from March 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Stability Pact website 
19. ↑ 4.7 billion marks for the Balkans . Mirror online
20. ↑ Erhard Busek is Europe's new broker in the Balkans . In: The world
21. ↑ waz-mediengruppe.de  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF)  
22. ↑ waz-mediengruppe.de  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
23. ↑ WAZ media group and ZDF decide on online cooperation . ZDF, September 24, 2009
24. ↑ What are journalists allowed to do? ( Memento of the original from May 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Zeit Online , May 2, 2007 
25. ↑ Under pressure . In: Berliner Zeitung , December 6, 2008
26. ↑ Media Policy - The Black Channel . In: Der Tagesspiegel , July 14, 2009
27. ↑ The group is staging a coup . In: taz , December 6, 2009
28. ↑ waz-mediengruppe.de  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF)  
29. ↑ Internet presence of the BAPP ( Memento of the original from May 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
30. ↑ Board of Directors of broststiftung.ruhr
31. ↑ List of the award winners. ( Memento of April 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Chamber of Crafts Düsseldorf, accessed on January 27, 2011
32. ↑ Bodo Hombach's late honor as a “European bull” . In: Die Welt , July 9, 2002
33. ↑ Prime Minister Jürgen Rüttgers awards the state's Order of Merit to 14 citizens. Press release. (No longer available online.) State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia, December 12, 2006, archived from the original on March 9, 2008 ; Retrieved September 7, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
34. ↑ Bodo Hombach awarded the Mérite Européen Order ( Memento of the original from April 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
35. ↑ waz-mediengruppe.de  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF)  
36. ↑ waz-mediengruppe.de  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF)  
37. ↑ waz-mediengruppe.de  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF)  
38. ↑ ^{a b c d} Something always stays . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , August 22, 2007
39. ↑ Friendship prizes for Bodo Hombach . In: Berliner Zeitung , August 13, 1999
40. ↑ Confession or imprisonment . In: Der Tagesspiegel February 18, 2008
41. ^ Court judgment: Hombach's triumph . In: Der Tagesspiegel
42. ↑ The house is paid for . In: FAZ , September 23, 2008