About
Hans-Dietrich Genscher was a German statesman, a prominent figure in West German and then German politics. A member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), he served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 1969 to 1974, then as Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor from 1974 to 1992, a record tenure. He played a key role in German reunification, notably through his balcony speech at the German Embassy in Prague in 1989. He also contributed to the international recognition of Croatia and Slovenia in 1991. After his political retirement in 1998, he remained active in international relations.
* 1927-03-21 — † 2016-03-28
Major works
- Unterwegs zur Einheit (1991)memoir
- Erinnerungen (1995)memoir
- Meine Sicht der Dinge (2015)memoir
Key milestones
- 1972During the Munich hostage crisis, he offered himself as a hostage in exchange for the Israeli athletes and subsequently founded the GSG 9 counter-terrorism unit.
- 1989On September 30, from the balcony of the German Embassy in Prague, he announced that thousands of East German refugees could travel to the West.
- 1990He signed the Two Plus Four Treaty and the German-Polish Border Treaty (Oder-Neisse line).
Themes
German reunificationForeign policyLiberalismDomestic securityEuropean integration
Sources: britannica.com · id.loc.gov · auswaertiges-amt.de