| Honorific suffix | Bundesminister a. D. |
|---|---|
| Birth date | 13 October 1937 (age 89) |
| Birth place | Osnabrück, Province of Hanover, Prussia, Nazi Germany (now Germany) |
| Party | Christian Democratic Union (1958–) |
| Alma mater | University of Münster |
| Occupation | Politician · Lawyer · Civil Servant |
| Office | Vice President of the Bundestag (on proposal of the CDU/CSU-group) |
| 1blankname | President |
| 1namedata | Wolfgang Thierse |
| Term start | 26 October 1998 |
| Term end | 17 October 2002 |
| Predecessor | Michaela Geiger |
| Successor | Norbert Lammert |
| Office 1 | Minister of the Interior |
| Term start 1 | 26 November 1991 |
| Term end 1 | 7 July 1993 |
| Predecessor 1 | Wolfgang Schäuble |
| Successor 1 | Manfred Kanther |
| Office 9 | Head of the Chancellery Minister for Special Affairs |
| Chancellor 9 | Helmut Kohl |
| Term start 9 | 21 April 1989 |
| Term end 9 | 25 November 1991 |
| Predecessor 9 | Wolfgang Schäuble |
| Successor 9 | Friedrich Bohl |
| Office 11 | Chief Whip of the CDU/CSU group in the Bundestag |
| Term start 11 | 15 November 1984 |
| Term end 11 | 21 May 1989 |
| Leader 11 | Wolfgang Schäuble |
| Predecessor 11 | Wolfgang Schäuble |
| Successor 11 | Friedrich Bohl |
| Office 12 | Whip of the CDU/CSU group in the Bundestag |
| 1blankname 12 | Chief Whip |
| 1namedata 12 | Wolfgang Schäuble |
| Alongside 12 | Wolfgang Bötsch, Agnes Hürland-Büning |
| Term start 12 | 14 October 1982 |
| Term end 12 | 15 November 1984 |
| Leader 12 | Alfred Dregger |
| Predecessor 12 | Wolfgang Schäuble Wilhelm Rawe Dorothee Wilms |
| Successor 12 | Friedrich Bohl |
| Alongside 13 | Josef Rösing, Leo Wagner, Olaf Baron von Wrangel, Paul Röhner, Gerhard Reddemann, Paul Mikat, Philipp Jenninger |
| Term start 13 | 9 November 1971 |
| Term end 13 | 14 December 1976 |
| Leader 13 | Karl Carstens Helmut Kohl |
| Predecessor 13 | Will Rasner |
| Successor 13 | Walter Wallmann |
| Office 14 | Member of the Bundestag for Unterems (Emsland; 1969–1980) |
| Term start 14 | 20 October 1969 |
| Term end 14 | 17 October 2002 |
| Predecessor 14 | Josef Stecker |
| Successor 14 | Gitta Connemann |
Rudolf Seiters (born 13 October 1937) is a German politician of the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) party.
From 1989 to 1991, he was Federal Minister for Special Affairs and the head of the Office of the German Chancellery. From 1991 to 1993, he was the Minister of the Interior. From 1998 to 2002, he was the Vice President of the German Bundestag, or Parliament. Since 2003, he has been the president of the German Red Cross.
Life and jobs
Seiters was born in Osnabrück. After graduating from the Gymnasium Carolinium in Osnabrück in 1959, he graduated from the University of Münster with a degree in Jurisprudence, finishing his first examinations (roughly equivalent to bachelor's degree) in 1963, and his second examination (professional degree) in 1967. From 1968 to 1969, he was a legal assistant in the office of the Osnabrück Department of the Economy and Social Housing. Since November 2003, he has been the president of the German Red Cross.
He is married with three daughters and lives in Papenburg. In 2000, he was given an honorary doctorate from the University of the Bundeswehr Munich.
Party
Since 1958, he has been a member of the CDU. From 1963 until 1965, he was the Borough-president of the Osnabrück-Emsland chapter of the CDU youth organization Junge Union. Then, from 1965 to 1968, he was the president of the state chapter in Hannover and 1968–1971 of the newly founded Lower Saxony chapter. From 1967 to 1971, he was furthermore a member of the Federal Executive Board of the Junge Union and then from 1971 to 1973 a member of the Federal Managing Board of the CDU itself. From 1972 to 1998, he was the deputy secretary of the CDU in Lower Saxony and from 1992 to 1998 also a member of the CDU National Executive Committee.
As a representative
From 1969 to 2002, Seiters was a member of the German Parliament, the Bundestag. Ih the years 1971–1976 and 1982–1984, he served as an executive officer (Geschäftsführer) of the CDU/CSU parliamentary fraction. From 1984 to 1989, he was the party fraction's Head Executive Officer. After the 1994 elections, he became the deputy chair of the fraction, a position he retained until 1998 when he became Vice President of the Bundestag.
Prague embassy negotiations
In 1989, thousands of East Germans took refuge the Prague embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany. Rudolf Seiters successfully negotiated with the East German government (DDR) the passage of the embassy refugees to the Federal Republic of Germany.[1]
Cabinet posts
Seiters was named on 21 April 1989 as the Federal Minister for Special Affairs and the head of the Office of the German Chancellery. On 26 November 1991, he was appointed the Minister of the Interior. On 27 June 1993, in a German Police raid in the train station of the Mecklenburgian town of Bad Kleinen, both the wanted terrorist of the Red Army Faction (RAF), Wolfgang Grams, and a GSG 9 agent, Michael Newrzella, lost their lives. Seiters took responsibility for the raid and stepped down on 4 July 1993.
Cabinets
Seiters was a member of the Cabinet Kohl III and the Cabinet Kohl IV.
Awards
- In 2008 Dr. Seiters received the Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt Human Rights Award endowed by Alexandra Hildebrandt. The award is given annually in recognition of extraordinary, non-violent commitment to human rights.[2]
References
- ^ "Der zweite Mann" (in German). Der Spiegel. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- ^ "Deutsches Rotes Kreuz - Internationaler Menschenrechtspreis 2008 für Rotkreuz-Präsident Seiters". Archived from the original on 28 June 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.