Joachim Gauck

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Joachim Gauck
Gauck in 2012
President of Germany
In office
18 March 2012 – 18 March 2017
ChancellorAngela Merkel
Preceded byChristian Wulff
Succeeded byFrank-Walter Steinmeier
Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records
In office
4 October 1990 – 10 October 2000
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byMarianne Birthler
Parliamentary constituencies
Member of the Bundestag
for Volkskammer
In office
3 October 1990 – 4 October 1990
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byVera Lengsfeld
Member of the Volkskammer
for Rostock
In office
5 April 1990 – 2 October 1990
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born (1940-01-24) 24 January 1940 (age 84)
Rostock, Nazi Germany
Political partyIndependent (since 1990)
Other political
affiliations		New Forum/Alliance 90 (1989–1990)
Spouse
Gerhild Radtke
​
​
(m. 1959; sep. 1991)​
Domestic partnerDaniela Schadt (since 2000)
Children4
Signature
WebsiteOfficial website

Joachim Wilhelm Gauck (German:

anti-communist civil rights activist in East Germany.[1][2][3][4]

During the

Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records. This made him the Bundestag member with the shortest tenure. He also served as Federal Commissioner from 1990 to 2000, earning recognition as a "Stasi hunter" and "tireless pro-democracy advocate" for exposing the crimes of the communist secret police.[5][6][7][8]

He was nominated as the candidate of the

SPD and the Greens in the 2010 presidential election but lost in the third ballot to Christian Wulff, the candidate of the government coalition. His candidacy was met by significant approval of the population and the media; Der Spiegel described him as "the better President",[9] while the Bild called him "the president of hearts".[10][11][12] Later, after Wulff stepped down, Gauck was elected as president with 991 of 1,228 votes in the Federal Convention in the 2012 German presidential election, as a nonpartisan consensus candidate of the CDU, the CSU, the FDP
, the SPD, and the Greens.

A son of a survivor of a Soviet

Communist crimes in Europe, and for the necessity of delegitimizing the Communist era.[1] As president, he was a proponent of "an enlightened anti-communism",[18] and he has underlined the illegitimacy of Communist rule in East Germany.[19] He is the author and co-author of several books, including The Black Book of Communism. His 2012 book Freedom: A Plea calls for the defense of freedom and human rights around the globe.[20][21] He has been described by Angela Merkel as a "true teacher of democracy" and a "tireless advocate of freedom, democracy, and justice".[22] The Wall Street Journal has described him as "the last of a breed: the leaders of protest movements behind the Iron Curtain who went on to lead their countries after 1989."[23] He has received numerous honours, including the 1997 Hannah Arendt Prize. In 2022, he criticized Germany's policies towards Russia in the period after the Cold War, and said that "we should have listened to the voices of our eastern neighbours – Poles and the Baltic states as well as our Atlantic friends" when they warned about Russian aggression.[24]

Childhood and life in East Germany (1940–1989)

Gauck was born into a family of sailors in

physically disabled after one year, according to his son.[28] For nearly three years, the family knew nothing about what had happened to him and whether he was still alive. He was freed in 1955, following the state visit of Konrad Adenauer to Moscow. Adenauer negotiated the release of thousands of German prisoners of war and civilians who had been deported.[29]

Gauck graduated with an

Communist regime towards the church, and for many years he was under constant observation and was harassed by the Stasi (the secret police).[33][34] The Stasi described Gauck in their file on him as an "incorrigible anti-communist" (unverbesserlicher Antikommunist).[35] He has said that "at the age of nine, I knew socialism was an unjust system."[10]

In his memoirs, Gauck writes that "the fate of our father was like an educational cudgel. It led to a sense of unconditional loyalty towards the family which excluded any sort of idea of fraternisation with the system."[36]

Career during and after the Peaceful Revolution of 1989

Gauck in 1990

During the

People's Chamber of the GDR, representing the Alliance 90 (that consisted of the New Forum, Democracy Now, and the Initiative for Peace and Human Rights
), where he served until the dissolution of the GDR in October 1990.

People's Chamber
in 1990

On 2 October 1990, the day before the dissolution of the GDR, the People's Chamber elected him Special Representative for the Stasi Records. After the dissolution of the GDR the following day, he was appointed Special Representative of the Federal Government for the Stasi Records by President Richard von Weizsäcker and Chancellor Helmut Kohl. As such, he was in charge of the archives of the Stasi and tasked with investigating Communist crimes. In 1992, his office became known as the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records. He served in this position until 2000, when he was succeeded by Marianne Birthler.

Gauck served as a member of the Bundestag, the Parliament of Germany, from 3 to 4 October 1990. The 1990 People's Chamber was granted the right to nominate a certain number of MPs as part of the reunification process and he was one of the 144 Volkskammer co-opted to the Bundestag. He stepped down following his appointment as Special Representative of the Federal Government. As such, he was the shortest serving member of the Bundestag in history. He was succeeded by fellow civil rights activist Vera Lengsfeld.

Gauck refused the position of president of the

European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia 2001–2004.[39]

Political views and reception

Gauck attending a press conference of the International Society for Human Rights, where he lectured about the Stasi campaign to discredit the Society

Gauck has written on Soviet-era concentration camps, such as the

reunification of Germany and the fall of the Communist government.[40] All parties participated, except The Left (the successor of SED), whose members walked out in protest against Gauck's delivering the speech.[41] Gauck supports the observation of The Left by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the corresponding state authorities.[42] Gauck has lauded the SPD for distancing itself from The Left.[43]

Gauck is a founding signatory of both the

European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, that was subsequently designated by the European Parliament. In 2010, Gauck criticized the political left of ignoring Communist crimes.[46] Gauck is also a supporter of the idea to establish a Centre Against Expulsions in Berlin.[47]

Gauck in 2008

On the occasion of his 70th birthday in 2010, Gauck was praised by Angela Merkel as a "true teacher of democracy" and a "tireless advocate of freedom, democracy and justice".[22] The Independent has described Gauck as "Germany's answer to Nelson Mandela".[48] The Wall Street Journal has described him as "the last of a breed: the leaders of protest movements behind the Iron Curtain who went on to lead their countries after 1989", comparing him to Lech Wałęsa and Václav Havel.[23] Corriere della Sera has referred to him as the "German Havel".[49]

Gauck supported the economic reforms initiated by the red-green government of

German military presence in Afghanistan. Gauck is a proponent of market economy, and is sceptical towards the Occupy movement. In 2010, he said that SPD politician Thilo Sarrazin had "demonstrated courage" in opening a debate on immigration.[50] He criticized several of Sarrazin's views.[51]

In an interview with

Freedom. A Plea, he outlines his thoughts on freedom, democracy, human rights, and tolerance. In 2012, Gauck said that "Muslims who are living here are a part of Germany"; he refused to say whether Islam was a part of Germany, as asserted by previous president Christian Wulff. The Central Council of Muslims in Germany welcomed the remarks.[52] In May 2015, Gauck urged Germans to openly acknowledge that "millions of soldiers of the Red Army lost their lives during Nazi internment."[53]

In 2022, Gauck criticized Germany's policies towards Russia in the period after the Cold War, and said that "we should have listened to the voices of our eastern neighbours – Poles and the Baltic states as well as our Atlantic friends" when they warned about Russian aggression.[24]

2010 presidential candidate

Main article: 2010 German presidential election
Brandenburger Tor
in 2010

On 3 June 2010, Gauck was nominated for

liberal conservative.[58]

Gauck is widely respected across the political spectrum,[59] and is very popular also among CDU/CSU and FDP politicians due to his record as an upstanding, moral person during the Communist dictatorship, as well as his record as a "Stasi hunter" in the 1990s.[60] His main contender, Christian Wulff, and politicians of all the government parties, stated that they greatly respected Gauck and his life and work.[61] Jörg Schönbohm, former Chairman of the CDU of Brandenburg, also supported Gauck.[62]

The only party that in principle rejected Gauck as a possible president was the legal successor of the East German Communist party, Die Linke, which interpreted the nomination of the SPD and Greens as a refusal to cooperate with Die Linke.[63] CSU politician Philipp Freiherr von Brandenstein argued that the election of Gauck would prevent any cooperation between SPD/Greens and Die Linke for years to come, saying that "Gauck has likely made it perfectly clear to [Sigmar] Gabriel that he will never appoint any of the apologists of the Communist tyranny as government members."[62] Die Linke nominated their own candidate, former journalist Luc Jochimsen,[64] and chose to abstain in the third ballot.[65][66] Die Linke's refusal to support Gauck drew strong criticism from the SPD and Greens.[67][68] Gabriel, the SPD chairman, described Die Linke's position as "bizarre and embarrassing", stating that he was "shocked" that the party would declare Gauck their main enemy due to his investigation of Communist injustice.[69] According to Gabriel, Die Linke had manifested itself once again as the successor of the East German Communist party.[67] A politician of Die Linke compared the choice between Gauck and Wulff to the choice between Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, drawing strong condemnation from the SPD and Greens.[70]

In the election on 30 June 2010, Gauck was defeated by Wulff in the third ballot, with a margin of 624 to 490.[71] Gauck was originally proposed as a presidential candidate for the Greens by Andreas Schulze, then communications adviser to the Greens in the Bundestag. Schulze was appointed as Gauck's spokesman in 2010, and again in 2012.[72]

President of Germany

Election

Main article: 2012 German presidential election
Gauck in 2012

Following the resignation of Wulff on 17 February 2012, Gauck was nominated on 19 February as the joint candidate for President of Germany by the government parties CDU, CSU, and FDP, and the opposition SPD and the Greens. This happened after the FDP, the SPD, and the Greens had strongly supported Gauck and urged the conservatives to support him.[73] Gabriel said Gauck was his party's preferred candidate already on 17 February, citing Gauck's "great confidence among the citizens."[74] Reportedly, Merkel gave in to FDP chairman Philipp Rösler's staunch support for Gauck; the agreement was announced after the FDP presidium had unanimously voted for Gauck earlier on 19 February.[75][76] He was thus supported by all major parties represented in the Federal Convention, except Die Linke.[1]

According to a poll conducted for Stern, the nomination of Gauck was met with high approval. The majority of the voters of all political parties represented in the Bundestag approved of his nomination, with the Green voters being most enthusiastic (84% approval) and Die Linke's voters least (55% approval); overall, 69% supported him, while 15% opposed him.[77] His nomination was "broadly welcomed" by the German media,[78] which were described as "jubilant".[79] His candidacy was criticized by Die Linke, and met with some other individual criticism; he was criticized by individual CSU members for not being married to the woman he lives with,[80][81] and by individual politicians of the Greens, notably for his earlier statements on Sarrazin and the Occupy movement.[80] Gabriel stated that the reason that Die Linke was the only party that did not support Gauck was its "sympathy for the German Democratic Republic".[82][83]

David Gill was appointed head of Gauck's transition team,[84] and later became head of the Bundespräsidialamt.[85] On 18 March 2012, Gauck was elected President of Germany with 991 of 1.228 votes in the Federal Convention.[86] Upon accepting his election, he assumed the presidency immediately.[87] The new president took the oath of office required by article 56 of Germany's Constitution on 23 March 2012 in the presence of the assembled members of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat.[88][89][90] On 6 June 2016, Gauck announced he would not stand for re-election in 2017, citing his age as the reason.[91]

Presidential visits to foreign countries

Main article:
List of presidential trips made by Joachim Gauck

Gauck has visited a significant number of countries as president. In 2014, he boycotted the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in order to make a statement against violations of human rights in Russia.[92][93] On 3 August 2014, Gauck joined François Hollande to mark the outbreak of the war between Germany and France in 1914 during World War I by laying the first stone of a memorial in Hartmannswillerkopf, for French and German soldiers killed in the war.[94]

State receptions

German-speaking countries, such as Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein, to his home region of Mecklenburg. It was the first time Belgium and Luxembourg participated in the annual event. They met in Bad Doberan, Warnemünde, and Rostock to address the challenges of demographic change in Europe, such as the ageing of Europe, and to commemorate the Peaceful Revolution of 1989.[95]

Other activities

Personal life

Gauck married Gerhild "Hansi" Gauck (née Radtke), his childhood sweetheart whom he met at age ten;[98] the couple has been separated since 1991.[99] They were married in 1959, at 19, despite his father's opposition, and have four children: sons Christian (born 1960) and Martin (born 1962), and daughters Gesine (born 1966) and Katharina (born 1979). Christian, Martin and Gesine were able to leave East Germany and emigrate to West Germany in the late 1980s, while Katharina, still a child, remained with her parents. His children were discriminated against and denied the right to education by the communist regime because their father was a pastor.[100] His son Christian, who along with his brother decided to leave the GDR in early 1984 and was able to do so in 1987, studied medicine in West Germany and became a physician.[101]

Since 2000, his

domestic partner has been Daniela Schadt, a journalist.[102][103][104] Gauck is a member of the Protestant Church in Germany, and served as a pastor for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg—a member church of that federation.[105]

Selected publications

Honours

National honours

Foreign Orders

Awards

References

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    , 2008
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  109. ^ Jarufe Bader, Juan Pablo. ""Orden al Mérito Bernardo O'Higgins". Normativa y galardonados" (PDF) (in Spanish). Library of the National Congress of Chile. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  110. ^ "Par Triju Zvaigžņu ordeņa piešķiršanu – Latvijas Vēstnesis".
  111. ^ Nomination by Sovereign Ordonnance Archived 10 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine n° 3839 of 9 July 2012 (French)
  112. ^ "Nederland eert Duitse president Gauck met Grootkruis en eredoctoraat". 7 February 2017.
  113. ^ "Iohannis i-a decorat pe preşedintele Germaniei şi pe partenera sa" (in Romanian). Mediafax. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  114. ^ Federal President Joachim Gauck receiving the Leo Baeck Medal in Berlin on 14 May 2014
  115. ^ "Ex-Bundespräsident Gauck mit Menschenrechtspreis ausgezeichnet". NDR.de (in German). 4 July 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2021.

External links

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Civic offices
New office Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records
1990–2000 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by President of Germany
2012–2017 		Succeeded by
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