Centre strip in autumn

Unter den Linden ("under the linden trees") is a boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is named for its linden (lime in British English) trees that line the grassed pedestrian mall between two carriageways.

Unter den Linden runs east–west from the site of the former Stadtschloss royal palace at the Lustgarten park, where the demolished Palast der Republik used to be, to Pariser Platz and Brandenburg Gate. Eastward the boulevard crosses the Spree river at Berlin Cathedral and continues as Karl-Liebknecht-Straße. The western continuation behind Brandenburg Gate is Straße des 17. Juni. Major north–south streets crossing Unter den Linden are Friedrichstraße and Wilhelmstrasse.

J. Stridbeck, LindenAllee 1691

Unter den Linden at the heart of the historic section of Berlin developed from a bridle path laid out by Elector John George of Brandenburg in the 16th century to reach his hunting grounds in the Tiergarten. It was replaced by a boulevard of linden trees planted in 1647, extending from the city palace to the gates of the city, by order of the “Great Elector” Frederick William. While the western part of the boulevard retained its character, the area around present-day Bebelplatz was integrated into the fortification of Berlin in the aftermath of the Thirty Years' War, visible until today as there are no trees.

By the 19th century, as Berlin grew and expanded to the west, Unter den Linden became the best-known and grandest street in Berlin. In 1851 the famous equestrian statue of King Frederick II of Prussia was erected on the centre strip, designed by Christian Daniel Rauch. In the course of the building of the Nord-Süd-Tunnel for the Berlin S-Bahn in 1934–35, most of the linden trees were cut down and during the last days of World War II the remaining trees were destroyed or cut down for firewood. The present-day linden were replanted in the 1950s;^{[citation needed]} they are affected by air pollution as well as by soil contamination.

Points of interest[link]

Since 1937, the numbering^{[clarification needed]} has started at the Schlossbrücke (Palace Bridge), connecting Unter den Linden with the Lustgarten and Museum Island. The disputed replica of the Alte Kommandantur is No. 1, vis-à-vis the Zeughaus arsenal, the oldest building on Unter den Linden, built between 1695 and 1706, today the seat of the Deutsches Historisches Museum (No. 2). Buildings along the street include (from east to west) the Crown Princes Palace (former palace of the Hohenzollern crown princes, No. 3), the Neue Wache war memorial built in 1817 (No. 4), considered by many^[who?] to be Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s masterpiece. Furthermore on Bebelplatz the Berlin State Opera (No. 7), colloquially called Lindenoper, St. Hedwig's Cathedral and the Altes Palais (No. 9), favoured residence of Emperor Wilhelm I; in the north the main building of the Humboldt University (No. 6) and House I of the Berlin State Library (No. 8). On the western end are the Russian Embassy (former Soviet Embassy, No. 63-65) the Hungarian Embassy (No. 76) at the corner of Wilhelmstrasse and finally the Hotel Adlon (No. 77) at the corner of Pariser Platz, which has been completely rebuilt on the site of the prewar hotel. Well-known statues of Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt in front of the university as well as of the Prussian generals Scharnhorst and Bülow also adorn the street. The street sign that dates from before the 1930s can be found at the Imperial War Museum, London.

Along Unter den Linden[link]

• 

  Aerial view of Unter den Linden from Berlin Cathedral to Brandenburg Gate

• 

  At night

• Unter den Linden at dusk.jpg

  Christmas illumination

• 

  Eastern end at Schlossbrücke (Palace Bridge)

• 

  Alte Kommandantur

• 

  Zeughaus (now Deutsches Historisches Museum)

• 

  Neue Wache (New Guard House) memorial

• 

  Berlin State Opera, one of several neoclassical buildings on Bebelplatz

• 

  Main building of Humboldt University

• 

  Equestrian statue of King Frederick II of Prussia, facing east

• 

  Hotel Adlon

• 

  Brandenburg Gate at Pariser Platz, which marks the western terminus

See also[link]

• Berlin Brandenburger Tor station – formerly Berlin Unter den Linden

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Unter den Linden

• Unter den Linden - Interactive 360° Panorama
• Webcam: Live-View of the street Unter den Linden with Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany

Coordinates: 52°31′00″N 13°22′52″E / 52.51658°N 13.381°E / 52.51658; 13.381

Portrait of Walther von der Vogelweide. From the Codex Manesse (Folio 124r)

Walther von der Vogelweide (c. 1170 – c. 1230) is the most celebrated of the Middle High German lyric poets.

Life history[link]

For all his fame, Walther's name is not found in contemporary records, with the exception of a solitary mention in the travelling accounts of Bishop Wolfger of Erla of the Passau diocese: "Walthero cantori de Vogelweide pro pellicio v solidos longos"--"To Walther the singer of the Vogelweide five shillings for a fur coat." The main sources of information about him are his own poems and occasional references by contemporary Minnesingers. He was a knight, but probably not a wealthy or landed one. His whole name (in English "Sir Walter of the Bird-Field") suggests that he didn't have a grant of land, since "bird-field" is a general geographic surname like "forest", "hill" or "rivers", not the name of a specific place. He probably was knighted for military bravery and, like a Knight Bachelor of England or samurai in Japan, was initially a retainer in a wealthy, noble household and had rooms in that castle before beginning his travels.

Birthplace[link]

Walther’s birthplace remains unknown, and given the lack of documentary evidence, it will probably never be known exactly. There is little chance of deriving it from his name; in his day there were many so-called “Vogelweiden” in the vicinity of castles and towns, where hawks were caught for hawking or songbirds for people's homes. For this reason, it must be assumed that the singer did not obtain his name primarily for superregional communication, because it could not be used for an unambiguous assignment. Other persons of the high nobility and poets who traveled with their masters used the unambiguous name of their ownership or their place of origin; therefore, the name was meaningful only in the near vicinity, where only one Vogelweide existed or it was understood as a metaphoric surname of the singer. Pen-names were usual for poets of the 12th and 13th century, whereas Minnesingers in principle were known by their noble family name which was used to sign documents.

In 1974, Helmut Hörner identified a farmhouse mentioned in 1556 as “Vogelweidhof” in the urbarium of the domain Rappottenstein. At this time it belonged to the Amt Traunstein, now within the municipality Schönbach in the Lower Austrian Waldviertel. Its existence had already been mentioned without comment in 1911 by Alois Plesser, who also did not know its precise location. Hörner proved that the still-existing farmhouse Weid is indeed the mentioned Vogelweidhof and collected arguments for Walther being born in the Waldviertel. He published this in his 1974 book 800 Jahre Traunstein (800 years Traunstein), pointing out that Walther says “Ze ôsterriche lernt ich singen unde sagen” ("In Austria [at this time only Lower Austria and Vienna], I learned to sing and to speak"). A tradition says that Walther, one of the ten Old Masters, was a Landherr (land owner) from Bohemia, which does not contradict his possible origin in the Waldviertel, because in mediaeval times the Waldviertel was from time to time denoted as versus boemiam. Powerful support for this theory was given in 1977^[1] and 1981^[2] by Bernd Thum (University Karlsruhe, Germany), which makes an origin in the Waldviertel very plausible. Thum began with an analysis of the content of Walther’s work, especially of his crusade appeal, also known as “old age elegy”, and concluded that Walther’s birthplace was far away from all travelling routes of this time and within a region where land was still cleared. This is because the singer pours out his sorrows “Bereitet ist daz velt, verhouwen ist der walt” and suggests he no longer knows his people and land, applicable to the Waldviertel.

Additionally in 1987, Walter Klomfar and the librarian Charlotte Ziegler came to the conclusion that Walther might have been born in the Waldviertel. The starting point for their study is also the above-mentioned words of Walther. These were placed into doubt by research, but strictly speaking do not mention his birthplace. Klomfar points to a historical map which was drawn by monks of the Zwettl monastery in the 17th century, on the occasion of a legal dispute. This map shows a village Walthers and a field marked “Vogelwaidt” and a related house belonging to the village. The village became deserted, but a well marked on the map could be excavated and reconstructed to prove the accuracy of the map. Klomfar was also able to partly reconstruct land ownership in this region and prove the existence of the (not rare) Christian name Walther.

Contrary to this theory, Franz Pfeiffer assumed that the singer was born in the Wipptal in South Tyrol, where, not far from the small town of Sterzing on the Eisack, a wood — called the Vorder- and Hintervogelweide — exists. This would, however, contradict the fact that Walther was not able to visit his homeland for many decades. At this time Tyrol was the home of several well-known Minnesingers. The court of Vienna, under Duke Frederick I of the house of Babenberg, had become a centre of poetry and art.

Reinmar the Old[link]

Here it was that the young poet learned his craft under the renowned master Reinmar the Old, whose death he afterwards lamented in two of his most beautiful lyrics; and in the open-handed duke, he found his first patron. This happy period of his life, during which he produced the most charming and spontaneous of his love-lyrics, came to an end with the death of Duke Frederick in 1198. Henceforward Walther was a wanderer from court to court, singing for his lodging and his bread, and ever hoping that some patron would arise to save him from this "juggler's life" (gougel-fuore) and the shame of ever playing the guest. He had few if any possessions and depended on others for his food and lodging. His criticism of men and manners was scathing; and even when this did not touch his princely patrons, their underlings often took measures to rid themselves of so uncomfortable a censor.

Politics[link]

Thus he was forced to leave the court of the generous duke Bernhard of Carinthia (1202–1256); after an experience of the tumultuous household of the landgrave of Thuringia, he warns those who have weak ears to give it a wide berth. After three years spent at the court of Dietrich I of Meissen (reigned 1195–1221), he complains that he had received for his services neither money nor praise.

Generosity could be mentioned by Walther von der Vogelweide. He received a diamond from the high noble Diether III von Katzenelnbogen around 1214:^[3]

Ich bin dem Bogenaere (Katzenelnbogener) holt – gar ane gabe und ane solt: – … Den diemant den edelen stein – gap mir der schoensten ritter ein^[4]

Walther was, in fact, a man of strong views; and it is this which gives him his main significance in history, as compared to his place in literature. From the moment when the death of the emperor Henry VI (1197) opened the fateful struggle between empire and papacy, Walther threw himself ardently into the fray on the side of German independence and unity. Although his religious poems sufficiently prove the sincerity of his Catholicism, he remained to the end of his days opposed to the extreme claims of the popes, whom he attacks with a bitterness which can be justified only by the strength of his patriotic feelings. His political poems begin with an appeal to Germany, written in 1198 at Vienna, against the disruptive ambitions of the princes: "Crown Philip with the Kaiser's crown And bid them vex thy peace no more."

He was present on September 8 at Philip's coronation at Mainz, and supported him till his victory was assured. After Philip's murder in 1209, he "said and sang" in support of Otto of Brunswick against the papal candidate Frederick of Hohenstaufen; and only when Otto's usefulness to Germany had been shattered by the Battle of Bouvines (1212) did he turn to the rising star of Frederick II, now the sole representative of German majesty against pope and princes.

From the new emperor, Walther's genius and zeal for the empire finally received recognition: a small fief in Franconia was bestowed upon him, which — though he complained that its value was little — gave him the home and the fixed position he had so long desired. That Frederick gave him a further sign of favour by making him the tutor of his son Henry (VII), King of the Romans, is more than doubtful. The fact, in itself highly improbable, rests upon the evidence of only a single poem, the meaning of which can also be interpreted otherwise. Walther's restless spirit did not suffer him to remain long on his new property.

Later years[link]

In 1217 he was once more at Vienna, and again in 1219 after the return of Duke Leopold VI from the crusade. About 1224 he seems to have settled on his fief near Würzburg. He was active in urging the German princes to take part in the crusade of 1228, and may have accompanied the crusading army at least as far as his native Tirol. In a poem he pictures in words the changes that had taken place in the scenes of his childhood, changes which made his life there seem to have been only a dream. He died about 1230, and was buried at Würzburg, after leaving instructions — according to the story — that the birds were to be fed at his tomb daily. His original gravestone with its Latin inscription has disappeared; but in 1843 a new monument was erected over the spot, called Lusamgärtchen (Lusam garden), today sheltered by the two major churches of the city. There is also a statue of the poet at Bolzano, unveiled in 1877.

Assessment[link]

Walter Alison Phillips, in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, evaluates Walther's work as follows:^[5]

Historically interesting as Walther's political verses are, their merit has been somewhat exaggerated by many 19th and early 20th century German critics, who saw their own imperial aspirations and anti-papal prejudices reflected in this patriotic poet of the Middle Ages. Usually considered to be of more lasting value are his lyrics, mainly dealing with love, which led his contemporaries to hail him as their master in song (unsers sanges meister). He is of course unequal. At his worst he does not rise above the tiresome conventionalities of his school. At his best he shows a spontaneity, a charm and a facility which his rivals sought in vain to emulate. His earlier lyrics are full of the joy of life, of feelings for nature and of the glory of love. Greatly daring, he even rescues love from the convention which had made it the prerogative of the nobly born; contrasts the titles "woman" (wîp) and "lady" (froûwe) to the disadvantage of the latter; and puts the most beautiful of his lyrics — Unter der linden — into the mouth of a simple girl. A certain seriousness apparent under the joyousness of his earlier work grew on him with years. Religious and didactic poems become more frequent; and his verses in praise of love turn at times to a protest against the laxer standards of an age demoralized by political unrest. Throughout his work, his attitude is regarded as healthy and sane. He preaches support for the crusade; but at the same time he suggests the virtue of toleration, pointing out that in the worship of God “Christians, Jews and heathen all agree.”

He fulminates against "false love"; but pours scorn on those who maintain that "love is sin." In an age of monastic ideals and loose morality, there was nothing commonplace in the simple lines in which he sums up the inspiring principle of chivalry at its best: "Swer guotes wibes liebe hat Der schamt sich ieder missetat." (He who has a good woman's love is ashamed of every ill deed.) Altogether Walther's poems give us the picture of not only a great artistic genius, but also a strenuous, passionate, very human and very lovable character.

Cultural references[link]

Walther is one of the contestants in this depiction in the Codex Manesse of the Sängerkrieg

Walther is one of the traditional competitors in the tale of the song contest at the Wartburg. He appears in medieval accounts and continues to be mentioned in more modern versions of the story such as that in Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser. He is also named by Walter von Stolzing, the hero of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg as his poetic model.

Works[link]

The Gedichte (poems) were edited by Karl Lachmann (1827). This edition was re-edited by M. Haupt (3rd ed., 1853). Karl Simrock created an übertragung (literally "transcription", but in fact a re-writing) in 1833 that is still available from Insel Verlag. It has the original (but normalised) text on the left page and Simrock's "transcription" on the right. Franz Pfeiffer edited Walther v. d. Vogelweide, which comes with an introduction and notes (4th edition, by Karl Bartsch, Leipzig, 1873). C.A. Hornig wrote Glossarium zu d. Gedichten Walthers, nebst e. Reimverzeichnis (Glossary for the poems of Walther along with a list of rhymes; Quedlinburg, 1844). There are translations into modern German by B. Obermann (1886), and into English verse by W. Alison Phillips — Selected poems of Walter van der Vogelweide, with introduction and notes (London, 1896). The poem Unter den Linden is not included in Phillips' collection. It was freely translated by T.L. Beddoes (Works, 1890). Phillips translated it more literally in the Nineteenth Century for July 1896 (ccxxxiii. p. 70).

See also:

• Palästinalied
• Der Azeton - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Der Bognerton - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Der Erste Phillipston - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Der Keiser als Spileman - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Der Kaiser Friedrichs und Engelbertston - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Der Koenig Friedrichston - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Der Koenig Heinrichston - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Der Leich - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Der Leopoldston - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Der Meisnerton - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Der Ottenton - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Der Reichston um 1200 - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Der Unmutston - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Der Wiener Hofton - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Der Zweite Phillipston - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Fruehe Lieder bis 1198 - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Ich sach mit mînen ougen - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Ich saz ûf einem Steine - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Ir sult sprechen willekomen - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Lieder bis 1203 - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Lieder bis 1205 - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Lieder bis 1220 - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Lieder der neuen Minne - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Maedchenlieder - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)
• Spaete Lieder - eLibrary Austria (elib austria etxt in German)

Sources[link]

1. ^ Thum, Bernd (1977). "Die sogenannte 'Alterselegie' Walthers von der Vogelweide und die Krise des Landesausbaus im 13. Jahrhundert unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Donauraums". In Kaiser, Gert (in German). Literatur - Publikum - Historischer Kontext. Beiträge zur älteren deutschen Literaturgeschichte. 1. Berne. pp. 229 et seq.. ISBN 978-3-261-02923-2. 
2. ^ Thum, Bernd (1981). "Walther von der Vogelweide und das werdende Land Österreich". In Wolfram, Herwig; Brunner, Karl (in German). Die Kuenringer. Das Werden des Landes Österreich. Stift Zwettl. 16. Mai - 26. Oktober 1981. Katalog des Niederösterreichischen Landesmuseums. Amt der Niederösterreichischen Landesregierung. pp. 487–495. 
3. ^ Stoess, Wolfgang. "Was von Katzenelnbogen übrig blieb [What remained of Katzenelnbogen]" (in German). Graf v. Katzenelnbogen. http://www.graf-von-katzenelnbogen.de/kassel.html. 
4. ^ Paul, Hermann, ed. (1945) (in German). Die Gedichte Walthers von der Vogelweide. Besorgt von Albert Leitzmann (6th ed.). Halle: Niemeyer Verlag. p. 102. 
5. ^  Phillips, Walter Alison (1911). "Walther von der Vogelweide". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.  This works in turn cites: Wilmanns, Wilhelm (1882) (in German). Leben u. Dichten Walthers von der Vogelweide. Bonn. 

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Walther von der Vogelweide

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Walther von der Vogelweide

• Texts on Wikisource:
  • Walter Von Der Vogelweide, a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
  • "Walther von der Vogelweide". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. 
  •  "Walther von der Vogelweide". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 
  • Beach, Chandler B., ed. (1914). "Walther von der Vogelweide". The New Student's Reference Work. Chicago: F. E. Compton and Co.. Wikisource 
  • "Walther von der Vogelweide". Encyclopedia Americana. 1920. 
  • "Walther von der Vogelweide". Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921. 

Johann Strauss III (February 16, 1866 – January 9, 1939; German: Johann Strauß III; also known as Johann Eduard Strauss) was an Austrian composer whose father was Eduard Strauss, whose uncles were Johann Strauss II & Josef Strauss, and whose grandfather was Johann Strauss I. He was unofficially entrusted with the task of upholding his family's tradition after the disbandment of the Strauss Orchestra by his father in 1901. His talents were not fully realised during his lifetime as musical tastes had changed in the Silver Age with more popular composers such as Franz Lehár and Oscar Straus dominating the Viennese musical scene with their operettas, although his uncle, Johann Strauss II, supervised his development as a musician, a fact disputed by Eduard Strauss.

Despite his keen interest in composing, he was better remembered as a conductor. His only stage work, the three-act operetta Katze und Maus, composed in 1898, premiered in Vienna on 23 December 1898, at the Theater an der Wien.^[1] Its public reaction bordered on utter dislike, and music critics called for the distraught composer to reassess himself and to appear under a pseudonym, in order not to tarnish the name of his famous relatives. He salvaged the music score and produced independent pieces of which the waltzes Sylvianen Op. 1 and Leonie Op. 2 survived obscurity.

He also conducted from the violin in the style of the Vorgeiger and of his family. In 1903, he elevated the Strauss family to a new age of development when the Deutsche Grammophon AG of Germany recorded his conducting of the Johann Strauss Orchestra on eight single-sided records of works by his family. Principally, he was the first conductor in the Strauss family to actively conduct works to be recorded by prominent recording companies. His later works, such as Dem Muthigen gehört die Welt (The World Belongs to the Brave), Op. 25, and Krönungs-Walzer (Coronation Waltz), Op. 40, (the latter celebrating the coronation of King Edward VII) were also considerably more popular than his earlier efforts.

Johann Strauss III died in Berlin on 9 January 1939,^[1] aged 72.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Johann Strauss III at Allmusic

Wolfgang Schäuble
Minister of Finance
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 October 2009
Chancellor	Angela Merkel
Preceded by	Peer Steinbrück
Minister of the Interior
In office 22 November 2005 – 27 October 2009
Chancellor	Angela Merkel
Preceded by	Otto Schily
Succeeded by	Thomas de Maizière
In office 21 April 1989 – 26 November 1991
Chancellor	Helmut Kohl
Preceded by	Friedrich Zimmermann
Succeeded by	Rudolf Seiters
Chief of the Chancellery Minister for Special Affairs
In office 15 November 1984 – 21 April 1989
Chancellor	Helmut Kohl
Preceded by	Waldemar Schreckenberger
Succeeded by	Rudolf Seiters
Personal details
Born	(1942-09-18) 18 September 1942 (age 69) Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
Political party	Christian Democratic Union
Spouse(s)	Ingeborg Schäuble
Children	4
Alma mater	University of Freiburg University of Hamburg
Website	Official website

Wolfgang Schäuble [ˈvɔlfɡaŋ ˈʃɔʏblə] (born 18 September 1942) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), currently serving as the Federal Minister of Finance in the Second Cabinet Merkel.

From 1984 to 1991 he was a member of Helmut Kohl's cabinet, first as Federal Minister for Special Affairs of Germany and Chief of the Chancellery and then as Federal Minister of the Interior. Between 1991 and 2000, he was chairman of the CDU/CSU group in the parliament, and from 1998 to 2000 also CDU party chairman. He served again as Federal Minister of the Interior in the First Cabinet Merkel from 2005 to 2009.

Education and career[link]

Schäuble was born in Freiburg im Breisgau as the son of a tax finance advisor. After completing his Abitur in 1961, Schäuble studied law and economics in Freiburg im Breisgau and Hamburg, which he completed in 1966 and 1970 by passing the First and Second State Examinations respectively, becoming a fully qualified lawyer.

In 1971 Schäuble obtained his doctorate in law, with a dissertation called "The public accountant's professional legal situation within accountancy firms".

He entered the tax administration of the state of Baden-Württemberg, eventually becoming a senior administration officer in the Freiburg tax office.

Subsequently Schäuble became a practising registered lawyer at the district court of Offenburg, from 1978 to 1984.

Family[link]

Schäuble has been married to economist Ingeborg Schäuble since 1969. They have four children: three daughters Christine, Juliane and Anna, and one son Hans-Jörg. His brother Thomas Schäuble is a former Interior Minister of Baden-Württemberg, and has been executive chairman of the Baden-Württemberg state brewery "Rothaus" since 2004.

Political involvement[link]

Schäuble's political career began in 1961 with him joining the Junge Union ("Young Union"), the youth division of the CDU. During his studies he served as chairman of the Ring Christlich-Demokratischer Studenten (Association of Christian-Democrat Students, RCDS), in Hamburg and Freiburg. In 1965 Schäuble also became a member of the CDU. From 1969 to 1972 he was district chairman of the Junge Union in South Baden. From 1976 to 1984 he served as chairman of the CDU National Committee for Sport.

After the CDU was defeated in the 1998 federal election, Schäuble became chairman of the CDU. He gave up this post in 2000 in the wake of the party financing scandal, over the acceptance of cash donation over DM 100,000 contributed by the arms dealer and lobbyist Karlheinz Schreiber back in 1994. Schäuble's successor was Angela Merkel.

Member of Parliament[link]

Schäuble has been a member of the Bundestag since 1972. From 1981 to 1984 he was parliamentary whip of the CDU/CSU coalition and in November 1991 he became the chairman of the coalition. However, Schäuble gave up this position as well in 2000, as another consequence of the financing scandal. Since October 2002 Schäuble has been deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU.

Schäuble has always been elected to the Bundestag by means of winning an electorate seat, rather than through a list placing in Germany’s system of proportional political representation. At the 2005 federal election he received 50.5% of all direct votes cast within his electoral district No. 285 in Offenburg, slightly lower than the 52.2% he received at the 2002 election.

Public office[link]

1989: Wolfgang Schäuble (front centre), German Federal Minister of the Interior

On 15 November 1984 Schäuble was appointed Minister for Special Tasks and head of the Chancellery by Chancellor Helmut Kohl. In this capacity he was put in charge of the preparations for the first official state visit of Erich Honecker, Chairman of the State Council of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), in 1987.

In a cabinet reshuffle Schäuble was made Minister of the Interior on 21 April 1989. In this role he also led the negotiations on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany for reunification with the GDR in 1990. He is now Minister of Finance.

In the 1990s Schäuble was one of the most popular politicians in Germany and there was constant speculation that he would replace Kohl as Chancellor, who lost more and more of his popularity.^[1] In 1997 Helmut Kohl stated that Schäuble was his desired candidate to succeed him, but he didn’t want to hand over power until 2002 when the European monetary union would be completed with the introduction of the Euro. However, as the CDU/CSU lost the 1998 election, Schäuble never became Chancellor.

After Eberhard Diepgen was voted out as mayor of Berlin, Schäuble was in talks to be the top candidate for the early election on 21 October 2001, but was rejected by the Berlin branch of the CDU in favour of Frank Steffel.

Some quarters of the CDU and CSU wanted to put Schäuble forward as their candidate for the office of German President, the largely ceremonial head of state, at the beginning of March 2004, due to his extensive political experience. In spite of support from the Premiers of Bavaria (Edmund Stoiber (CSU)) and Hesse (Roland Koch (CDU)), Schäuble did not receive the party’s nomination in the end because CDU leader Angela Merkel, other CDU politicians and the liberal FDP party spoke out against him. This was because the election contributions scandal involving Schäuble that first came to light in late 1999 had never been entirely resolved.

In November 2005, Schäuble once again became Federal Minister of the Interior, this time in the grand coalition under Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In October 2009, Schäuble became Federal Minister of Finance.

Political views[link]

In 1999 Schäuble initiated a CDU/CSU petition campaign against the reform of German citizenship law under the slogan "Integration: yes — double citizenship: no".

During the Iraq War in 2003 Schäuble, in contrast to many German politicians, strongly defended the United States' decision to invade Iraq.

He accused the then-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of lacking an appropriate historical conscience, because he accepted alleged human rights violations by the Russian Government without criticism.

Schäuble is also of the view that Europe's problem is not the European Union, but rather certain national governments that cannot resist the temptation to make the EU and Europe the scapegoat for their own national problems. Examples pointed out by Schäuble include the EU's Stability and Growth Pact, and the Ministry of Finance's view that the introduction of the Euro would damage the German economy.

In March 2007, Schäuble said in an interview that the application of presumption of innocence should not be relevant for the authorization of counter-terrorist operations.^[2]

Later that same year Schäuble proposed the introduction of legislation that would allow the German Federal Government to carry out targeted killing of terrorists, as well as outlaw the use of the Internet and cell phones for people suspected of being terrorist sympathizers.^[3]

On 27 February 2008, he called on all European newspapers to print the Muhammad cartoons with the explanation: "We also think they're pathetic, but the use of press freedom is no reason to resort to violence."^[4]

In July 2009, Schäuble said in an interview that Berlin would have to "clarify whether our constitutional state is sufficient for confronting new threats."^[5][6] He said that the legal problems his office had to struggle with "extend all the way to extreme cases such as so-called targeted killing ... Imagine someone knew what cave Osama bin Laden is sitting in. A remote-controlled missile could then be fired in order to kill him."^[5][6] The interviewer said: "Germany's federal government would probably send a public prosecutor there first, to arrest bin Laden."^[5][6] Schäuble responded: "And the Americans would execute him with a missile, and most people would say: 'thank God'."^[5][6]

On November 21, 2011 Schäuble said the Euro would emerge stronger from the current crisis, thus leaving Great Britain on the sidelines unless it signed up. He said Great Britain would be forced to join the Eurozone faster than some in the UK thought.^[7]

Criticism[link]

Criticism of Schäuble centers on his law and order politics, especially in the field of counter-terrorism, for which he is denounced by some civil rights activists. Vocal opponents include the open-source software community.^[8] The latest decisions of his ministry have led to a campaign dubbed Stasi 2.0 by its initiators, claiming intentional resemblance to the East German Ministerium für Staatssicherheit.^[9]

Controversy was sparked by Schäuble's recommendation in a 2007 interview of a book by Otto Depenheuer, who defended the Guantanamo Bay detention camp as a "legally permissible response in the fight of constitutional civilisation against the barbarity of terrorism".^[10]

As a protest against his support for the increasing use of biometric data, the hacker group Chaos Computer Club published one of Schäuble's fingerprints in the March 2008 edition of its magazine Datenschleuder. The magazine also included the print on a film that readers could use to fool fingerprint readers.^[11]

In November 2008, a bill giving the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) more authority failed when some states abstained from the vote in the Bundesrat, the legislative representative of the states. Subsequently, Schäuble suggested changing Bundesrat's voting procedures to discount abstention votes from the total. Many ministers in the opposition criticized his proposal, and some called for his resignation.^[12][13]

In February 2009, Schäuble's homepage was hacked due to a security flaw in the TYPO3 CMS and his non-secure password gewinner ("winner"). The hack consisted of a defacement that placed a large, easily visible link on his front page to the homepage of the German Working Group on Data Retention.^[14]

In January, 2012, the British opponent of the EU Ambrose Evans-Pritchard advanced the "idle hunch" that, during the year, chancellor Merkel would "quietly oust arch-Europhile ... Schäuble and let the [ Euro-]project die, always pretending otherwise".^[15]

Assassination attempt[link]

On 12 October 1990, Schäuble was the target of an assassination attempt by Dieter Kaufmann,^[16] who fired three shots at Schäuble after an election campaign event in Oppenau. He injured a bodyguard, and severely injured Schäuble's spinal cord and face. Schäuble has been paralysed and has used a wheelchair ever since. The assassin was declared mentally ill by the judges, and committed to a clinic because of psychoneurosis.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wolfgang Schäuble

• Germany's New Government: Wolfgang Schauble – The Comeback of United Germany's Architect
• Wolfgang Schäuble's homepage (German)
• Biography of Wolfgang Schäuble at the German Historical Museum (German)
• Biography of Wolfgang Schäuble at the Bundestag (German parliament) website (German)
• Wolfgang Schäuble: "Muslims Should Feel at Home in Germany"

v t e The First Merkel Cabinet, 22 November 2005 – 28 October 2009 Franz Müntefering/Olaf Scholz (since 22 Nov 2007) (SPD) | Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD) | Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) | Brigitte Zypries (SPD) | Peer Steinbrück (SPD) | Michael Glos/Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (since 10 Feb 2009) (CSU) | Horst Seehofer/Ilse Aigner (since 31 Oct 2008) (CSU) | Franz Josef Jung (CDU) | Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) | Ulla Schmidt (SPD) | Wolfgang Tiefensee (SPD) | Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) | Annette Schavan (CDU) | Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul (SPD) | Thomas de Maizière (CDU)

v t e The Second Cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel (2009–present) Vice-Chancellor Guido Westerwelle (2009–2011)  · Philipp Rösler (2011–present) Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Guido Westerwelle (2009–present) Federal Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maizière (2009–2011)  · Hans-Peter Friedrich (2011–present) Federal Minister of Justice Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (2009–present) Federal Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schäuble (2009–present) Federal Minister of Economics and Technology Rainer Brüderle (2009–2011)  · Philipp Rösler (2011–present) Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Franz Josef Jung (2009)  · Ursula von der Leyen (2009–present) Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture Ilse Aigner (2009–present) Federal Minister of Defence Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (2009–2011)  · Thomas de Maizière (2011–present) Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Women and Youth Ursula von der Leyen (2009)  · Kristina Schröder (2009–present) Federal Minister of Health Philipp Rösler (2009–2011)  · Daniel Bahr (2011–present) Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs Peter Ramsauer (2009–present) Federal Minister for the Environment Norbert Röttgen (2009–2012)  · Peter Altmaier (2012–present) Federal Minister of Education and Research Annette Schavan (2009–present) Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Dirk Niebel (2009–present) Federal Minister for Special Tasks, Head of the Chancellery Ronald Pofalla (2009–present)

v t e Finance Ministers of Germany German Empire (1871–1918) Adolf von Scholz Franz Emil Emanuel von Burchard Karl Rudolf Jacobi Baron Helmuth von Maltzahn Arthur von Posadowsky-Wehner Max Franz Guido von Thielmann Baron Hermann von Stengel Reinhold Sydow Adolf Wermuth Hermann Kühn Karl Helfferich Count Siegfried von Roedern Weimar Republic (1918–1933) Eugen Schiffer Bernhard Dernburg Matthias Erzberger Joseph Wirth Andreas Hermes Rudolf Hilferding Hans Luther Otto von Schlieben Hans Luther Peter Reinhold Heinrich Köhler Rudolf Hilferding Paul Moldenhauer Heinrich Brüning Hermann R. Dietrich Third Reich (1933–1945) Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk East Germany (1949–1990) Hans Loch Willy Rumpf Siegfried Böhm Werner Schmieder Ernst Höfner Uta Nickel Walter Romberg Werner Skowron Federal Republic of Germany (1949–) Fritz Schäffer Franz Etzel Heinz Starke Rolf Dahlgrün Kurt Schmücker Franz Josef Strauss Alex Möller Karl Schiller Helmut Schmidt Hans Apel Hans Matthöfer Manfred Lahnstein Gerhard Stoltenberg Theodor Waigel Oskar Lafontaine Hans Eichel Peer Steinbrück Wolfgang Schäuble

v t e Interior Ministers of Germany Imperial Interior Secretaries (1871–1918) Karl Hofmann Karl Heinrich von Boetticher Arthur von Posadowsky-Wehner Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg Clemens von Delbrück Karl Helfferich Max Wallraf Karl Trimborn Weimar Republic (1918–1933) Friedrich Ebert Hugo Preuß Eduard David Erich Koch-Weser Georg Gradnauer Adolf Köster Rudolf Oeser Wilhelm Sollmann Karl Jarres Martin Schiele Otto Geßler Wilhelm Külz Walter von Keudell Carl Severing Joseph Wirth Wilhelm Groener Wilhelm von Gayl Franz Bracht Nazi Germany (1933–1945) Wilhelm Frick Heinrich Himmler Paul Giesler Wilhelm Stuckart German Democratic Republic (1949–1990) Karl Steinhoff Karl Maron Friedrich Dickel Lothar Ahrendt Peter Michael Diestel Federal Republic of Germany (1949–) Gustav Heinemann Robert Lehr Gerhard Schröder Hermann Höcherl Paul Lücke Ernst Benda Hans-Dietrich Genscher Werner Maihofer Gerhart Baum Jürgen Schmude Friedrich Zimmermann Wolfgang Schäuble Rudolf Seiters Manfred Kanther Otto Schily Wolfgang Schäuble Thomas de Maizière Hans-Peter Friedrich

v t e Heads of the German Chancellery Franz-Josef Wuermeling · Otto Lenz · Hans Globke · Ludger Westrick · Werner Knieper · Karl Carstens · Horst Ehmke · Horst Grabert · Manfred Schüler · Manfred Lahnstein · Gerhard Konow · Waldemar Schreckenberger · Wolfgang Schäuble · Rudolf Seiters · Friedrich Bohl · Bodo Hombach · Frank-Walter Steinmeier · Thomas de Maizière · Ronald Pofalla

von Borsody at Cologne literature festival 2006

Suzanne von Borsody (born September 23, 1957 in Munich) is a German actress. She is the daughter of actress Rosemarie Fendel (de) and actor Hans von Borsody (de).

She played Frau Jäger in the 1998 film Run Lola Run.

External links[link]

• Suzanne von Borsody at the Internet Movie Database
• Biography (in German)

This article about a German film and television actor or actress is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e