About
Born Karl Herbert Frahm in Lübeck, Willy Brandt joined the SPD at 16 and fled to Norway in 1933 to escape Nazism. Mayor of West Berlin (1957-1966), SPD chairman (1964-1987), Foreign Minister (1966-1969), he became Chancellor in 1969. His Ostpolitik led to treaties with the USSR and Poland, and the Four Power Agreement on Berlin. His kneeling at the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial in 1970 symbolized reconciliation. Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1971, he resigned in 1974 after the Guillaume affair. President of the Socialist International (1976-1992), he chaired the North-South Commission and published the Brandt Report (1977). He witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification.
* 1913-12-18 — † 1992-10-08
Major works
- Brandt Report (1980)report
Key milestones
- 1970Knelt at the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial, a spontaneous gesture of atonement for Nazi crimes.
- 1971Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for paving the way for meaningful dialogue between East and West.
- 1974Resigned as Chancellor following the Guillaume espionage affair.
Themes
ReconciliationDétenteForeign policyGlobal developmentSocial democracy
Sources: nobelprize.org · nobelpeaceprize.org · britannica.com
