Walter Hirrlinger

Walter Hirrlinger (born June 24, 1926 in Tübingen ; † July 24, 2018 in Esslingen am Neckar ) was a German politician ( SPD ) and honorary president of the social association VdK Germany .

education and profession

Hirrlinger completed a commercial apprenticeship, but was drafted into military service and was so badly wounded by a shot on January 2, 1945 that he had to sit in a wheelchair for five years. After the war he worked as a journalist and writer (short stories, novellas and novels) before working full-time for the then VdK - Association of War Disabled, War Survivors and Social Pensioners of Germany from the 1950s . V. (from 1994: Social Association VdK Germany) worked.

Political offices

From 1953 to 1968 Hirrlinger was a member of the municipal council of the city of Esslingen am Neckar , from 1959 to 1989 he was also a member of the district council of the Esslingen district . In December 1960, he moved in place of Gotthilf Schenkel as a member of the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg . After the state elections in 1964 and 1968, he was again a member of parliament. From 1966 to 1968 he was chairman of the SPD parliamentary group. From 1964 to 1968 he was also deputy state chairman of the SPD Baden-Württemberg; until 1975 he remained a member of the state executive committee. In the grand coalition under Prime Minister Hans Filbinger , Hirrlinger was Minister for Labor and Social Affairs from 1968 to 1972 .

After serving as a minister, he became managing director of the housing association Neue Heimat Baden-Württemberg . He held this office until 1986.

In addition to his work at Neue Heimat, Hirrlinger was also chairman of the regional association of the Middle Neckar (now the Stuttgart region ) from 1974 to 1994 and deputy chairman of the VdK regional association of Baden-Württemberg from 1972 to 1992. Until 1982 he was a member of the national board of the social association, then of the presidium. In 1990 he succeeded Karl Weishäupl as President of VdK Germany. He held this office until September 30, 2008. Ulrike Mascher was his successor . The news magazine Der Spiegel described Walter Hirrlinger as the "chief lobbyist of German pensioners".

family

Walter Hirrlinger was married to Lore Hirrlinger and the father of a mentally handicapped daughter who died in 2005 at the age of 45.

Hirrlinger died after a serious illness in July 2018 at the age of 92 in Esslingen.

Honorary positions and awards

Since it was founded in 1979, Hirrlinger was President of Action Européenne des Handicapés . In 2000 and 2004 he was chairman of the spokesman's council of the German Disability Council .

Hirrlinger had been a holder of the Baden-Württemberg Medal of Merit since 1978 . He was awarded the Great Federal Cross of Merit (1979) and the Great Federal Cross of Merit with Star (1984) of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany . Since 2004, Hirrlinger has been honorary chairman of the VdK Baden-Württemberg.

Web links

• Literature by and about Walter Hirrlinger in the catalog of the German National Library
• Literature by and about Walter Hirrlinger in the bibliographic database WorldCat
• Search for "Walter Hirrlinger" in the German Digital Library

Individual evidence

1. ^ Dirk Kurbjuweit, Alexander Neubacher, René Pfister, Christian Reiermann: Poisonous pensioner bonbon . In: Der Spiegel . No. 15 , 2008 ( online ).
2. ↑ Former VdK President Hirrlinger is dead. In: Focus Online . July 24, 2018, accessed July 24, 2018 .