Klaus Schütz

Klaus Schütz
Klaus Schütz in 1969
Governing Mayor of Berlin (West Berlin)
In office 19 October 1967 – 2 May 1977
President	Heinrich Lübke Gustav Heinemann Walter Scheel
Chancellor	Ludwig Erhard Kurt Georg Kiesinger
Preceded by	Heinrich Albertz
Succeeded by	Dietrich Stobbe
Personal details
Born	Klaus Schütz (1926-09-17)17 September 1926 Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Died	29 November 2012(2012-11-29) (aged 86) Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany
Resting place	Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf
Political party	SPD
Spouse	Adelheid

Klaus Schütz (17 September 1926

Klaus Schütz was born in Heidelberg on 17 September 1926. Schütz was the son of a lawyer, and he grew up in Berlin. After graduating from high school, he was drafted into the army as an anti-aircraft helper in 1944. During the last days of the war he was seriously wounded in Italy, as a result of his right arm remained paralyzed throughout his life.^[3]

University and left wing politics

After the end of the war, Schütz began studying history and German at the

As mayor, Schütz's term in office saw a phase of global political calming down of the Cold War, in a period known as Détente. This was reflected in the Four-Power Agreement signed in Berlin, which reconfirmed the existence of the rights and responsibilities of the Four Powers for the future of Berlin and Germany, and improved travel and communications between the two parts of the city and brought numerous improvements for the residents of the Western Sectors. The agreement was followed six months later by the Basic Treaty, which saw both West and East Germany recognize each other as sovereign states for the first time and the abandonment of West Germany's Hallstein Doctrine in favor of Ostpolitik.

Schütz's SPD suffered losses in the 1971 West Berlin state election, but again defended the absolute majority with 50.4 percent. The SPD Party then terminated the coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP), governing alone from then on. However, internal party fights continued and in 1975, the SPD finally lost its absolute majority in the Abgeordnetenhaus, with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) becoming the largest party. Schütz then formed another coalition, with the FDP again. But scandals and affairs increasingly weakened his government. When Interior Senator Neubauer had to admit irregularities in connection with income from a supervisory board position, Schütz gave up. On May 2, 1977, he resigned from the office of mayor, and a little later he also resigned from the state chairmanship of the SPD.

Post-mayoralty

After resigning from the mayoralty, he worked as German Ambassador to Israel from 1977 until 1981. Later, he took over the management of the Deutsche Welle broadcasting company, and became director of the State Broadcasting Corporation in North Rhine-Westphalia. After his retirement, Klaus Schütz returned to Berlin in 1992 to devote himself to journalistic tasks and the activity as president of the Berlin regional association of the German Red Cross.

Death

Schütz died on 29 November 2012, aged 86, from pneumonia in Berlin.

Personal life

Schütz married Adelheid (1924–2006), daughter of a parson in 1952.

Awards

• 1972 :
  Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 1975 : Large Cross of Merit with star and shoulder ribbon
• 2006 : Order of Merit of the State of Berlin

External links

Media related to Klaus Schütz at Wikimedia Commons

References