Walter Zuber

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Walter Zuber (born June 11, 1943 in Alzey ; † June 25, 2014 in Mainz ) was a German politician ( SPD ). As a former tax officer, he was interior minister of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate for 14 years under Prime Minister Rudolf Scharping and Kurt Beck .

Political activity

Zuber became a member of the SPD in 1963. From May 18, 1971 to June 15, 1982 he was a member of the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament . From June 15, 1982 to June 30, 1990 he was full-time mayor of the city of Alzey and from July 1, 1990 to May 21, 1991 District Administrator of the Bad Kreuznach district . In the 1991 state election, Zuber again moved into the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament and was brought into the cabinet as Minister of the Interior by the new Prime Minister Rudolf Scharping on May 21, 1991 . Zuber held this office in the Scharping Cabinet , Cabinet Beck I , Cabinet Beck II and Cabinet Beck III .

During his term of office, V-Mann Klaus Steinmetz was deployed , with whom West German authorities succeeded for the first time in getting into the immediate vicinity of the active command level of the Red Army Faction (RAF). Steinmetz's information led to the GSG-9 operation in Bad Kleinen , during which several RAF terrorists were to be arrested in June 1993 and during which the GSG-9 officer Michael Newrzella was shot by RAF member Wolfgang Grams . Grams committed suicide shortly afterwards. Zuber first tried to deny the existence of the V-Mann Steinmetz with the Rhineland-Palatinate constitutional protection in order to be able to continue to use him. This strategy reinforced the public's impression that authorities had failed in the failed operation and were not telling the truth, whereupon Zuber admitted Steinmetz's role a few weeks later.

Zuber especially cultivated the partnership between Rhineland-Palatinate and Rwanda . He was the first German politician to visit the country after the genocide in 1994 .

In September 2004, Zuber made one of his last public appearances as minister. Two weeks later he suffered a stroke. On February 25, 2005, he resigned his ministerial office due to health problems and received the Federal Cross of Merit as a farewell. His then State Secretary Karl Peter Bruch replaced him as Minister of the Interior. In 2008 Zuber also resigned from his state parliament mandate.

Honors

In 2005 Zuber received the Great Cross of Merit of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and in 2006 the honorary citizenship of the city of Alzey. The city later named a daycare center after him.

On February 26, 2010 Zuber was awarded the Jakob Steffan Prize 2010 against right-wing extremism and for a strong democracy by the Rheinhessen gegen Rechts eV association .

The Disabled and Rehabilitation Sports Association (BSV) Rhineland-Palatinate honored Walter Zuber on September 29, 2011 with the first ever PRO honorary office of the BSV Rhineland-Palatinate. The reason for the honor was the resignation of Walter Zuber from the office of chairman of the Association for the Promotion of Disabled Sports in Rhineland-Palatinate.

family

Walter Zuber was divorced; he was the father of three children. He died at the age of 71 and was buried in his hometown Alzey.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary notice on the website of the SPD subdistrict Alzey-Worms
  2. ↑ Mourning for the former Rhineland-Palatinate Interior Minister Walter Zuber on Allgemeine-zeitung.de from June 26, 2014
  3. ↑ Commemoration for the deceased Interior Minister Walter Zuber in Alzey , Allgemeine-Zeitung.de , June 13, 2018
  4. ↑ http://www.jakob-steffan.de
  5. ↑ http://www.rheinhessen-gegen-rechts.de
  6. ↑ Mourning for the former minister: Former Interior Minister Walter Zuber died on swr.de on June 26, 2014
  7. ↑ On the death of Minister a. D. Walter Zuber: Dreyer / Lewentz; His great achievements will not be forgotten ( Memento from August 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Message from the State Chancellery of Rhineland-Palatinate and the Ministry of the Interior, for Sports and Infrastructure Rhineland-Palatinate on rlp.de from June 26, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Zuber, Walter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zuber, F. Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician (SPD), MdL
DATE OF BIRTH June 11, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Alzey
DATE OF DEATH June 25, 2014
Place of death Mainz