Klaus Wowereit

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Klaus Wowereit (2009)Signature of Klaus Wowereit.gif

Klaus Wowereit (born October 1, 1953 in Berlin-Tempelhof ) is a former German politician ( SPD ). From 2001 to 2014 he was the governing mayor of Berlin and from 2009 to 2013 one of the deputy federal chairmen of the SPD.

Life

education and profession

After graduating from the Ulrich von Hutten Grammar School in Berlin-Lichtenrade in 1973 , Wowereit began studying law at the Free University of Berlin , which he completed in 1979 with the first state examination in law. He completed his legal clerkship at the Tempelhof-Kreuzberg District Court, among others . In 1981 he passed the second state examination in law. From 1981 to 1984, Wowereit Governing Council at the former Berlin Interior Senator Heinrich Lummer (CDU) .

Party career

Wowereit has been a member of the SPD since 1972. During his studies he was involved in the Berlin Juso regional association. As governing mayor, he was a member of the Berlin SPD state executive. A takeover of the SPD state chairmanship after the resignation of Peter Strieders in 2004 he refused in favor of Michael Müller . On November 13, 2009, he was elected to one of the four federal deputy chairmen of the new party leader Sigmar Gabriel at the federal party conference of the SPD . At the federal party conference in November 2013, he decided not to run again.

Public offices and mandates

Klaus Wowereit (2nd from right) in 1991 during his time as district councilor

In 1979 Wowereit became a member of the district assembly in Berlin-Tempelhof and remained so until he became Tempelhof's district councilor for public education and culture in 1984 , at which time Wowereit was Berlin's youngest councilor.

From 1984 to 2014 (early retirement at the age of 61) Klaus Wowereit was on leave as a municipal civil servant for the State of Berlin.

After his election to the Berlin House of Representatives in 1995 , he resigned his office as District Councilor of Tempelhof . There he was immediately elected deputy chairman and in 1999 chairman of the SPD parliamentary group.

After the SPD had terminated the grand coalition in the wake of the Berlin banking scandal , the House of Representatives elected Wowereit on June 16, 2001 with the votes of the SPD, the PDS and Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen as the successor of Eberhard Diepgen as Governing Mayor of Berlin. Until the early elections, he formed a senate made up of the SPD and Alliance 90 / The Greens, which, according to the Magdeburg model , was dependent on the tolerance of the PDS. In the early elections on October 21, 2001 , the Berlin SPD became the strongest force for the first time in 30 years, with 29.7% of the vote and a 7.3 percentage point increase. In contrast, the CDU slumped under top candidate Frank Steffel by 17.0 percentage points to 23.8% of the vote. Since January 2002, Wowereit has headed the Senate Wowereit II, formed by the SPD and the PDS, as governing mayor . The merging of the SPD with the successor party of the SED met with approval in the media and in surveys, but it sparked a wave of withdrawals from the SPD, which was based on historical oblivion.

On May 20, 2006, the 200 delegates of the SPD state party congress again elected Wowereit as the top candidate for the House of Representatives election on September 17, 2006, with only two abstentions . The SPD gained 30.8% of the votes, while its coalition partner PDS lost almost ten percentage points with 13.4%, and the CDU under Friedbert Pflüger only achieved 21.3% of the votes. On November 23, 2006, the House of Representatives decided - only in the second ballot - with a majority of one vote, again for Wowereit as Governing Mayor. In the course of the formation of the government, Wowereit removed the Senator for Culture Thomas Flierl (PDS) from the Senate Wowereit III by subordinating his department as a division of his Senate Chancellery .

For the House of Representatives election on September 18, 2011 , he was unanimously elected as the SPD's top candidate on May 13, 2011 at an SPD state party conference.

The SPD achieved 28.3 percent of the vote in this election and was ahead of the CDU (23.3 percent), Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen (17.6 percent), Left Party (11.7 percent) and Pirates (8.9 percent) Percent) strongest force. In this election, however, Wowereit himself lost his constituency to the CDU member Claudio Jupe and was no longer a member of the new House of Representatives.

On November 23, 2011, the SPD and CDU signed their coalition agreement, one day later Wowereit was re-elected to the office of governing mayor by the members of parliament without opposing candidates.

On August 26, 2014, Wowereit announced that he would resign from his position as Governing Mayor of Berlin on December 11, 2014 and at the same time say goodbye to active politics. At that time he was the longest serving head of government in a German state.

Federal Council Presidency

From November 1, 2001 to October 31, 2002, Wowereit was President of the German Federal Council .

During his term of office, the vote on the immigration law fell , in which Wowereit played a central role: When the Brandenburg delegation cast an inconsistent vote, Wowereit did not record the vote as invalid, but asked until only the Prime Minister Manfred Stolpe , who approved the law , commented . Thereupon Wowereit recorded the votes of Brandenburg as approval under protest by Union- led states, whereupon they proceeded to a norm review suit by the Federal Constitutional Court . In its judgment of December 18, 2002 , the court declared the law passed by Brandenburg's votes because of Wowereit's procedural errors to be void.

At the time, Wowereit rejected calls for resignation and said he did not feel that he was breaking the constitution.

Other engagement

Wowereit is a member of the SFB - Broadcasting Council have been.

Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Berlin Brandenburg Airport

From October 21, 2003, Klaus Wowereit was one of four representatives of the State of Berlin on the supervisory board of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH . In 2006 he took over the chairmanship of the supervisory board.

After another delay regarding the opening date for the airport , he resigned as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the airport company on January 7, 2013. His successor was the Prime Minister of Brandenburg, Matthias Platzeck , on January 16, 2013 . On January 12, 2013, Wowereit survived a motion of no confidence brought in by the opposition in the Berlin House of Representatives . In a special session, 62 MPs voted for his removal, 85 against.

Private

He grew up as the youngest child of a Roman Catholic family with two brothers and two sisters without a father. Wowereit bears the maiden name of his mother, the war widow Hertha Grüner (née Wowereit). In addition to his student jobs, one of his brothers supported him financially during his student days. For years, Wowereit looked after his brother, who was paralyzed after an accident, and his mother, who was suffering from cancer. The second brother died in a traffic accident, his 16-year-older sister died at the age of 20.

Klaus Wowereit had been in a relationship with neurosurgeon Jörn Kubicki (1965–2020), a second cousin of FDP politician Wolfgang Kubicki , since 1993 and had lived with him since 2005 in a shared apartment. Jörn Kubicki died in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of an infection with the novel coronavirus .

Public perception

Klaus Wowereit at Berlin's Christopher Street Day 2001
Klaus Wowereit with Polish guests Lech Wałęsa and Adam Giersz at ITB Berlin 2011

Wowereit achieved great fame in 2001 when he made his homosexuality (known to those around him) public at the special party conference on June 10, 2001 when he was nominated as a candidate for the vote of no confidence in Eberhard Diepgen and for the new elections sought . He took the wind out of the sails of a looming thematization in some media including the incalculable effects in the upcoming election campaign. His saying “I'm gay - and that's a good thing!” Became a popular phrase . He was the first top German politician to be so open about his homosexuality. The public reaction made it a lot easier for all subsequent politicians who professed their homosexuality to deal with it. The political scientist Werner Josef Patzelt said: “Wowereits outing was a liberation.” In some citations, the “also” - sometimes on purpose - is left out, which (depending on the point of view) reinforces the self-evident nature of the sentence or restricts other forms of sexuality and its good leaves. In the show Menschen bei Maischberger on September 2, 2014, Wowereit made it clear that the "also" only served as a filler word and rejected any different interpretations. It was "the most important sentence" in his life, wrote Wowereit in April 2015.

Manfred Weinberg, literary and cultural scientist and professor of modern German literary studies at the Charles University in Prague, comments on this, among other things: “At first glance, one would not want to attest Klaus Wowereit's public confession to be irreconcilable. The suffix 'and that's a good thing!' but it was not by chance that the actual scandal of his statement was. Is the confession 'I'm gay!' as a request to read for recognition, the postscript says 'and that's a good thing!' also a rejection of this request. ”Especially at the time, it was in contrast to the behavior of other politicians, such as Guido Westerwelle and Ole von Beust . It was seen as courageous and - especially by political competition - as aggressive. One can be, one can perhaps pronounce it, but not say that it is a good thing. Most of the time, however, the “also” was overlooked, and its various readings were ignored. Friedrich Merz even said that this coming-out harmed the image of the family enshrined in the Basic Law. In the end, the voters showed a small positive effect in terms of credibility of the candidate, which at the time of the decision - also because of the first time - could not be assessed. Edmund Stoiber said that if such a public confession no longer hurts, but works, "the good family fathers and mothers" would be discriminated against.

Wowereit - nickname "Wowi" - also became known to the German public because - especially at the beginning of his term of office - he appeared unusually often in public for a politician, at events such as openings or balls and on television, for example betting, that..? . He played himself in a guest appearance in the television series Berlin, Berlin in 2004. Also in the comedy film Alles auf Zucker! (2004) he made a brief appearance as Governing Mayor.

In the House of Representatives election campaign in 2006 , Wowereit was supported by many celebrities . In September 2007, Wowereit appeared together with Hajo Schumacher wrote book ... and that's a good thing .

His conviction, expressed later, that even the Federal Republic was now ripe for a homosexual chancellor, was confirmed by an Emnid survey: in September 2007 79% of German citizens could imagine such a chancellor.

In August 2008, Wowereit was “ awarded ” for the name of the capital city advertising campaign be Berlin as the language fan of the year 2008 .

Opinion polls

In 2006 opinion polls in Berlin showed relatively high popularity ratings Wowereits, and these ratings fell in the following years. In a survey carried out by the Forsa Institute in March 2009 , current political decisions were already rejected by a majority of the Berlin population. For tactical reasons , Klaus Wowereit prevented the merging of the Pro Reli referendum carried out in April 2009 with the European elections that took place two months later , which led to additional costs of 1.5 million euros in the Berlin budget. Likewise, 74 percent of the Berliners surveyed believed Wowereits's decision to rent the buildings and areas of the former Tempelhof Airport exclusively to a fashion fair to be wrong.

A Forsa survey in February 2010 found that Wowereit had relatively low values ​​on the popularity scale. In addition to the inadequate crisis management in connection with the S-Bahn operating restrictions in 2009/2010 , he was accused of hesitant action and disrespectful comments about the black ice chaos in Berlin in February 2010. Because of the inadequate ice removal on the city's sidewalks, many Berliners had broken bones and other injuries. Klaus Wowereit commented on the outrage of the population by saying, “You are in Berlin, not in Haiti”, referring to the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010 , in which up to 300,000 people were killed.

After Renate Künast was nominated as the top candidate of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen , Wowereits popularity ratings were temporarily behind its opponent; later they were clearly in front of her again.

In December 2012 he was voted the “most embarrassing Berliner” of 2012 by the city magazine tip because of the problems with the construction of the Berlin-Brandenburg airport. In the period that followed, he experienced free fall in opinion polls.

Political positions and projects

Austerity

Due to the critical financial situation in Berlin at the time they took office, Wowereit and his then Finance Senator Thilo Sarrazin relied on a rigid austerity policy that did not stop at social cuts. The greatest savings item came from the personnel sector, especially the civil servants sector. The state of Berlin resigned from the public employers' association as an employer, and the working hours of civil servants were increased.

Housing policy

In 2004, a consortium consisting of the investment companies Whitehall Investments Ltd. and affiliates of Cerberus Capital Management , the GSW Immobilien by the State of Berlin for 405 million euros. Since then the company has operated as "GSW Immobilien GmbH".

Berlin Brandenburg Airport

Critics see in Wowereit's work as chairman of the supervisory board of Berlin Brandenburg Airport a reason for the project's cost and deadline overruns. He did not want to know anything about emerging problems and reacted angrily to the relevant information. Furthermore, he had filled the committee with friends instead of experts.

Ambitions in Federal Politics

In August 2006, Wowereit announced that he would become more involved in federal politics in the future. In an interview with the chairman of the SPD, Sigmar Gabriel, in November 2009, Klaus Wowereit's candidacy for the 2013 federal election was not ruled out.

Awards (excerpt)

Works

Web links

Commons : Klaus Wowereit  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikiquote: Klaus Wowereit  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thorsten Holzhauser: The "successor party". The integration of the PDS into the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany 1990–2005 . De Gruyter Oldenbourg, Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-11-063342-9 , p. 362 ff.
  2. ↑ Klaus Wowereit's resignation: "I make my office available". In: Spiegel Online . August 26, 2014, accessed December 20, 2014 .
  3. ^ Information from the Federal Constitutional Court on its decision of December 18, 2002
  4. ↑ Albert Funk: Wowereit: I don't feel like a constitutional breaker Berlin's governing mayor rejects allegations. In: tagesspiegel.de , December 19, 2002, accessed on January 3, 2018
  5. ↑ Federal Constitutional Court rejects Wowereits "Yes" to the immigration law. In: bz-berlin.de , December 19, 2002, accessed on January 3, 2018
  6. ↑ Daniel Delhaes, Silke Kersting: The advice of the clueless . In: Handelsblatt . January 10, 2013, p. 46 .
  7. ↑ Thorsten Denkler: Berlin-Brandenburg Airport: Klaus Wowereit in free fall. In: sueddeutsche.de . January 7, 2013, accessed December 20, 2014 .
  8. ↑ BER debacle: Wowereit resigns as chief airport supervisor. In: Spiegel Online . January 7, 2013, accessed December 20, 2014 .
  9. ↑ Consequences of the BER debacle: Wowereit resigns as chairman of the supervisory board. In: fr-online.de . January 7, 2013, accessed December 20, 2014 .
  10. ^ Motion of no confidence in Berlin failed: Klaus Wowereit remains in office despite the BER debacle. In: Focus Online . January 12, 2013, accessed December 20, 2014 .
  11. ↑ "I want to keep the churches as partners". In: taz.de . March 26, 2009, accessed December 20, 2014 .
  12. ↑ a b Klaus Wowereit: The 'and that is-also-good-so'-man. In: stern.de . October 6, 2007, accessed December 20, 2014 .
  13. ↑ ntv.de: Klaus Wowereit's husband is dead. In: ntv.de. ntv.de, March 28, 2020, accessed on March 28, 2020 .
  14. ^ Ddp report: "FDP politician Wolfgang Kubicki is related to Klaus Wowereit's friend Jörn". In: welt.de . November 17, 2003, archived from the original on November 30, 2016 .;
  15. ↑ Bernd Matthies: A mayor to cuddle with. In: tagesspiegel.de . September 19, 2007, accessed December 20, 2014 .
  16. ↑ Corona infection: Klaus Wowereits partner died - queer.de. Retrieved March 30, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Jan Feddersen: “And that's a good thing”. In: taz.de . June 12, 2001, accessed December 20, 2014 .
  18. ↑ Joachim Fahrun: Why Klaus Wowereit came out as gay. In: welt.de . September 19, 2007, accessed December 20, 2014 .
  19. ^ Collaboration: Georg Fahrion: Homosexual Politicians: Politicians? Male? Humid? Congratulation! In: stern.de . August 25, 2009. Retrieved December 20, 2014 .
  20. ↑ Klaus Wowereit - "I'm gay - and that's a good thing". In: sueddeutsche.de . September 19, 2007, accessed December 20, 2014 .
  21. ↑ a b c Manfred Weinberg: Good? Of public confessions and (private) identifications . ( Memento from January 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: culturalgenderstudies.zhdk.ch , May 20, 2003 ( MS Word ; 110 kB)
  22. ↑ Video: Wowereit resigns: Is that a good thing? ( Memento from September 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: daserste.de . Available until September 3, 2015
  23. ↑ Ralf Hirschberger: A quote and his story “I'm gay - and that's a good thing”. In: tagesspiegel.de , April 5, 2015, accessed on January 3, 2018
  24. ↑ Sabine Höher: Wowereit is one step ahead with celebrities. In: welt.de . August 20, 2006, accessed December 20, 2014 .
  25. ↑ Carsten Volkery: Biography Hype: Pink Times for Klaus Wowereit. In: Spiegel Online . September 20, 2007, accessed December 20, 2014 .
  26. ↑ The majority of German citizens accept homosexual chancellors . ( Memento from August 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: Augsburger Allgemeine , September 23, 2007
  27. ↑ Karsten Hintzmann: Wowereit clearly ahead of Pflüger. ( Memento from March 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) In: Berliner Morgenpost from March 6, 2006
  28. ↑ CDU top candidate Pflüger increasingly unpopular. ( Memento of July 5, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) June 23, 2006
  29. ↑ Gilbert Schomaker: Berliners vote against Wowereits going it alone . In: Berliner Morgenpost , March 6, 2009
  30. ↑ Thomas Rogalla: Wowereit breaks in . In: Berliner Zeitung , March 1, 2010
  31. ↑ Ingrid Müller: Berlin is not Haiti. In: tagesspiegel.de . February 12, 2010, accessed December 20, 2014 .
  32. ↑ Berlin trend . In: RBB online , January 13, 2011
  33. ↑ Klaus Wowereit is the "most embarrassing Berliner". In: welt.de . December 19, 2012, accessed December 20, 2014 .
  34. ↑ Third to last place in Berlin: Wowereit crashes dramatically in the survey. In: Spiegel Online . February 4, 2013, accessed December 20, 2014 .
  35. ↑ GSW sale for 405 million euros received broad approval Berliner Zeitung, June 18, 2004
  36. ^ Christiane Hoffmann: It burns. In: FAZ.net . July 7, 2012, accessed December 20, 2014 .
  37. ↑ Uwe Rada: Klaus Wowereit has the choice. In: taz.de . August 26, 2006, accessed December 20, 2014 .
  38. ↑ Gabriel: SPD must be stronger in 2011 Interview with the new party leader  ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) In: tagesspiegel.de from November 16, 2009@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.tagesspiegel.de
  39. ↑ berlin.de ( Memento from August 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  40. ↑ vds-ev.de
  41. ↑ Freedom's Challenge Awards. Atlantic Council ( Memento of October 8, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  42. ↑ interverband.com
  43. ↑ Cologne Carnival Order for Woelki and Becker. In: kathisch1.tv. Retrieved February 26, 2012 .
personal data
SURNAME Wowereit, Klaus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician (SPD), Member of the Bundestag, Governing Mayor of Berlin
DATE OF BIRTH October 1, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin-Tempelhof