Hans-Christoph Seebohm

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Hans-Christoph Seebohm
Federal Minister of Transport
In office
20 September 1949 – 30 November 1966
ChancellorKonrad Adenauer (1949–1963)
Ludwig Erhard (1963–1966)
Preceded bynone
Succeeded byGeorg Leber
Member of the Bundestag
In office
7 September 1949 – 17 September 1967
Personal details
Born
Hans-Christoph Seebohm

(1903-08-04)4 August 1903
Technical College of Berlin
OccupationMining director, industrial manager, politician

Hans-Christoph Seebohm (4 August 1903 – 17 September 1967) was a German politician of the national conservative

minister of Transport for 17 years and the vice chancellor of West Germany
in 1966.

Biography

Seebohm attended school in

Aryanization" of the mines at Královské Poříčí
(Königswerth).

After

Deutsche Rechtspartei and Hessian
National Democrats, which however were aborted by the British occupation forces. In 1952, Seebohm was elected DP chairman, but refused to assume office.

Minister for Transport

From 1949 until his death he was a member of the

Hamburg-Harburg. From 20 September 1949 until 30 November 1966 he also served as Federal Minister for Transport, firstly under Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who forced him to join the CDU in 1960 as he wouldn't support the DP any longer; then under Ludwig Erhard, under whom he ultimately, but briefly, served as Vice Chancellor. Seebohm was a firm supporter of the Bundesbahn, and went to some length to hamstring the trucking industry.[2] In April 1953, second trailers were prohibited. In 1954 a law was passed dictating that half of all transports in Germany had to be carried by train; this would be promoted by subventioning rates for train transports. Trucking remained popular, however, due to its higher flexibility.[3] Thus, in 1956, the rules were tightened yet more: Sunday truck traffic was prohibited, along with a host of other new restrictions. Trucks were restricted to a 24-tonne (53,000 lb) GVW, with a maximum axle load of 8 tonnes (18,000 lb), and a maximum overall length of 14 metres (46 ft).[4] A minimum power-to-weight requirement of 6 PS/tonne (max 373 lb/hp) was instituted. These various restrictions forced truck manufacturers to develop entirely new trucks meeting the ever tightening requirements, and had a detrimental effect on exports.[4] In 1960 an easing of the restrictions was announced; railroad and trucking transport were now working in conjunction. Paradoxically, meeting the tough restrictions had forced the German trucking industry to become lean and innovative, leaving them in a much stronger position than before Seebohm's programs.[5]

When the 1966 grand coalition under Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger took office, he left the cabinet, having served as a federal minister for seventeen years, a record beaten only by Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher's 23 years (with an interruption in 1982) but as of 2011 still the record for uninterrupted service.

Spokesperson for the Sudeten Germans

From 1959 Seebohm acted as spokesperson of the Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft (Sudeten German Homeland Association) of German expellees from Czechoslovakia, where he held his so-called "weekend speeches". In line with West German government policy at the time, he questioned the borders of Germany, referring to the borders of the 1937 German Reich as base of any border revision and stating that Germans should also never forget about the eastern territories lost after World War I according to the resolutions of the Treaty of Versailles, while at the same time demanding restoration of the 1938 Munich Agreement, advocating the “return of the stolen Sudeten German homeland to the Sudeten German people.”[6]

Seebohm's irredentist leanings about the Sudetenland were a source of embarrassment for the Bonn government, which had to counter West Germany didn't have any claim on these regions and causing him to be chided by Erhard.[7] Adenauer had hoped he would have so much work to do he wouldn't have time for radical activities.[8] Der Spiegel described him as someone who “with never tiring energy defies Cabinet decision whenever a demagogic opportunity presents itself.”[9]

End of political career

Seebohm died a few months after his retirement and is buried in the Bad Pyrmont cemetery.

References

  1. ^ Schröder, Dieter (11 November 1964). "RESPEKT VOR DEM, DER AUTOBAHNEN BAUT". Der Spiegel – via Spiegel Online.
  2. ISSN 1612-4170
    .
  3. ^ Gräf, p. 8
  4. ^ a b Gräf, p. 10
  5. ^ Gräf, p. 15
  6. ^ Margalit, Gilad (2009), Guilt, suffering, and memory: Germany remembers its dead of World War II, Indiana University Press, p. 204
  7. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  8. ISBN 978-1-61075-274-9
    .
  9. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 21 July 2023.

External links