Hans-Ulrich Klose
Encyclopedia
Hans-Ulrich Klose is a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
from the Social Democratic Party
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
and is now as of 2007 member of the German Federal Diet (German: Bundestag
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
). Klose was the First Mayor (German: Erster Bürgermeister) of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
from 1974 up to 1981, serving as President
President of the German Bundesrat
In Germany, the President of the Bundesrat or President of the Federal Council is the chairperson or speaker of the Bundesrat . The presidency of the Bundesrat rotates among the heads of government of each of the states on an annual basis...
of the Bundesrat
Bundesrat of Germany
The German Bundesrat is a legislative body that represents the sixteen Länder of Germany at the federal level...
in 1979/80.
Early life
Klose was born in Breslau (now better known under its Polish name Wrocław), Province of Lower SilesiaProvince of Lower Silesia
The Province of Lower Silesia was a province of the Free State of Prussia from 1919 to 1945. Between 1938 and 1941 it was reunited with Upper Silesia as the Silesia Province. The capital of Lower Silesia was Breslau...
. After the end of the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Klose's family fled from Breslau and moved to Bielefeld
Bielefeld
Bielefeld is an independent city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 323,000, it is also the most populous city in the Regierungsbezirk Detmold...
. In 1957 he received his high-school diploma and started studying law at the universities of Freiburg
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...
and Hamburg
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...
. In 1961 he passed the First, in 1965 the Second Legal State Examination, and started working as a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
in Hamburg.
Political career
After joining the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in 1964, he became member of the Hamburg ParliamentHamburg Parliament
The Hamburg Parliament is the unicameral legislature of the German state of Hamburg according to the constitution of Hamburg. As of 2011 there were 121 members in the parliament, representing a relatively equal amount of constituencies...
(Hamburgische Bürgerschaft) in 1970, where he was vice chairman of his faction. Two years later he became first chairman of the SPD faction. In October 1973, Klose succeeded Heinz Ruhnau as minister of the interior of Hamburg
Government of Hamburg
The government of Hamburg is divided into executive, legislative and judicial branches. Due to the characteristic that Hamburg is a city-state and a municipality in Germany, the governance deals several details of state politics and community politics. It takes place in two ranks; a city-wide and...
. Only a year later, on November 12, 1974 Hans-Ulrich Klose became First Mayor (Erster Bürgermeister) of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg at the age of 37. After a party internal argument about a near nuclear powerplant in Brokdorf
Brokdorf
Brokdorf is a municipality in the district of Steinburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.-Anti Nuclear protests:The Brokdorf Nuclear Power Plant is located in Brokdorf. During the building phase in the 70's and 80's there were violent protests of nuclear power by opponents...
, he resigned from his office on May 25, 1981.
In 1983 Klose was elected as a member of the German parliament, the Bundestag
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
, for the SPD. From 1987 to 1991 he was treasurer
Treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...
of his party (German: Bundesschatzmeister). From 1991 to 1994 he became the leader of SPD group in the Bundestag, and in this position also leader of the opposition. He quit this job in 1994, to make room for the SPD candidate for German chancellor at that time, Rudolf Scharping
Rudolf Scharping
Rudolf Scharping is a German politician .Scharping studied politics, sociology and law at the University of Bonn. He joined the Social Democratic Party in 1966. He was Member of the Rhineland-Palatine Parliament from 1975 to 1994. From 21 May 1991 to 15 October 1994 he was prime minister of the...
. Instead he was elected one of the vice presidents
President of the Bundestag
The President of the Bundestag presides over the sessions of the Bundestag, the parliament of Germany, with functions similar to that of a speaker in other countries. In the German order of precedence, his office is ranked second after the President and before the Chancellor...
of the German Bundestag the same year.
In 1998 Klose became president of the parliament's foreign policy committee; since 2002 he's been its vice president, and since January 2003 Klose is also president of the parliamentary group for German-American affairs.
On March 16, 2010, Germany's Minister for Foreign Affairs
Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany)
The Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs is the head of the Federal Foreign Office and a member of the Cabinet of Germany. The current office holder is Guido Westerwelle...
Guido Westerwelle
Guido Westerwelle
Guido Westerwelle [] is a German liberal politician, who, since 28 October 2009, has been serving as the Foreign Minister in the second cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel, and who was Vice Chancellor of Germany from 2009 to 2011. He is the first openly gay person to hold either of those positions...
appointed Klose to succeed Karsten Voigt
Karsten Voigt
Karsten Dietrich Voigt is a German politician .From 1976 to 1998 he was a member of the German parliament....
as the government's coordinator for German-American affairs.