Joachim Gauck
Encyclopedia
Joachim Gauck is a German
politician, journalist and theologian. After a brief political career during Die Wende
in Eastern Germany, the co-founder of the New Forum
was elected member of the People's Chamber for the Alliance 90
in 1990. Following the Reunification of Germany he became the first Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives, serving from 1990 to 2000. Later he was active as a journalist and talkshow host. His nomination as the candidate of the SPD
and the Alliance '90/The Greens
for President of Germany
in the 2010 election
received widespread attention.
A founding signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism
, together with Václav Havel
, and the Declaration on Crimes of Communism
, Gauck has called for increased awareness of communist crimes in Europe and the prosecution of communist criminals.
. His father was an experienced ship's captain and (Captain at Sea
). After he was released as British POW, he worked as an inspector at the Neptun Werft
shipbuilding company. The family was a victim of Soviet persecution. When Joachim Gauck was eleven years old, in 1951, his father "disappeared", after being arrested by the Soviet occupation forces. He was falsely accused of espionage for receiving a letter from the West and also of "anti-Soviet demagogy" for being in the possession of a western journal on naval affairs and deported to a Gulag
in Siberia
, where he was severely mistreated. Till 1953, the family knew nothing about what had happened to him and whether he was still alive. Only in 1955, he was freed, following a state visit of Konrad Adenauer
to Moscow, who negotiated the release of prisoners of war and political detainees.
According to Joachim Gauck, his political activities were inspired by the ordeal of his father, and he stated that he grew up with a "very reasonable anti-communism". Already in school in East Germany, he made no secret of his anti-communist position, and he steadfastly refused to join the communist youth movement, the Free German Youth
. He wanted to become a journalist, but because he wasn't a communist, he wasn't allowed to study journalism. Instead he became a pastor in the Protestant church in Mecklenburg and as responsible for church congresses and youth activities. The Stasi described Gauck in their file on him as an "incorrigible anti-communist" ("unverbesserlicher Antikommunist"). Gauck was never directly involved with oppositional groups. However his activities have been monitored by Stasi officers between 1974 and 1988. November 1988 the Stasi assumed no further monitoring would have been necessary.
Gauck has four children, three of whom were able to leave East Germany and emigrate to West Germany
in the late 1980s. He is legally still married to his first wife but has been separated from her till 1991.
, a democratic opposition movement, in 1989, and was elected as its spokesman. He also took part in major demonstrations against the communists. In the free elections on 18 March 1990
, he was elected to the People's Chamber of the GDR, representing the Alliance 90
(that consisted of the New Forum, Democracy Now
and the Initiative for Peace and Human Rights
), where he served until the dissolution of the GDR in October 1990.
On October 2, 1990, the day before the dissolution of the GDR, the People's Chamber elected him Special Representative for the Stasi Archives. After the dissolution of the GDR the following day, he was appointed Special Representative of the Federal Government for the Stasi Archives by President Richard von Weizsäcker
and Chancellor Helmut Kohl
. As such, he was in charge of the archives of the former communist secret police, the Stasi
, and tasked with investigating communist crimes. In 1992, his office became known as the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives. He served in this position until 2000, when he was succeeded by Marianne Birthler
.
Gauck served as a member of the Bundestag
, the Parliament of Germany, from 3 October to 4 October 1990 (the 1990 People's Chamber was granted the right to nominate a certain number of MPs as part of the reunification process). He stepped down following his appointment as Special Representative of the Federal Government. As such, he was the shortest serving Member of Parliament of Germany ever.
He refused the position of President of the Federal Agency for Civic Education
as well as offers to be nominated as a candidate for parliament by the SPD
. Voices inside the Christian Social Union of Bavaria
proposed him as a possible conservative presidential candidate (against SPD career politician Johannes Rau
) in 1999, and his name was also mentioned as a possible candidate for CDU/CSU
and FDP
in subsequent years. For instance the Saxon FDP state party proposed him as a liberal-conservative candidate in 2004, before the leaders of the parties agreed on Horst Köhler
.
In 1998, he contributed to the German edition of The Black Book of Communism
, writing an additional chapter on the German Democratic Republic
.
Joachim Gauck was invited to hold the main speech during a commemoration ceremony at the Landtag of Saxony
in memory of the Reunification of Germany and the fall of the communist regime in 2007. All parties participated, except the far-left party Die Linke (the successor of the East German communist party
), whose members walked out in protest against Gauck giving the speech.
Joachim Gauck is a founding signatory of both the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism
(2008) and the Declaration on Crimes of Communism
(2010), both calling for the condemnation of communism, education about communist crimes and punishment of communist criminals. The Prague Declaration proposed the establishment of the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism
, that was subsequently designated by the European Parliament
. In 2010, Gauck criticized the political left of ignoring communist crimes.
Gauck is a supporter of the idea to etablish a Centre Against Expulsions
in Berlin.
On the occasion of his 70th birthday in 2010, Gauck was praised by Chancellor Angela Merkel
as a "true teacher of democracy" and a "tireless advocate of freedom, democracy and justice".
The Independent
has described Joachim Gauck as "Germany's answer to Nelson Mandela
".
Gauck is a member of Atlantik-Brücke
, an organisation promoting German-American friendship. He is also the chairman of Gegen Vergessen – Für Demokratie, an organisation combating left-wing and right-wing extremism, and that promotes coming to terms with the legacy of the two totalitarian regimes in German history, advocating democracy.
in the 2010 election
by the Social Democratic Party of Germany
and the Greens
. Gauck is not a member of either the SPD or the Greens (although his former party in East Germany eventually merged with the Greens after reunification) and has stated that he would have accepted a nomination by the CDU as well. Gauck once described himself as a "leftist, liberal conservative" and after his nomination, stated: "I'm neither red nor green, I'm Joachim Gauck". The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
described him as a liberal conservative
.
Gauck is widely respected across the political spectrum and is very popular also among CDU/CSU and FDP politicians due to his record as an upstanding, moral person during the communist dictatorship as well as his record as a "Stasi
hunter" in the 1990s. His main contender, Christian Wulff
, and politicians of all the government parties, stated that they greatly respected Gauck and his life and work. Jörg Schönbohm
, former Chairman of the CDU of Brandenburg
, also supported Gauck.
The only party that in principle rejected Gauck as a possible president was The Left
, which interpreted the nomination of the SPD and Greens as a refusal to cooperate with Die Linke, a party which contains internal factions that are considered extremist by federal authorities. CSU politician Philipp Freiherr von Brandenstein argued that the election of Joachim Gauck would prevent any cooperation between SPD/Greens and the party The Left for years to come: "Gauck has likely made it perfectly clear to Gabriel
that he will never appoint any of the apologists of the communist tyranny as government members". The Left nominated their own candidate, former journalist Luc Jochimsen
, and chose to abstain in the third ballot.
In the election on 30 June 2010
, Gauck was defeated by Christian Wulff
in the third ballot, with a margin of 624 to 490.
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
politician, journalist and theologian. After a brief political career during Die Wende
Die Wende
marks the complete process of the change from socialism and planned economy to market economy and capitalism in East Germany around the years 1989 and 1990. It encompasses several processes and events which later have become synonymous with the overall process...
in Eastern Germany, the co-founder of the New Forum
New Forum
New Forum was a political movement in East Germany formed in the months leading up to the collapse of the East German state. It was founded in September 1989 and was the first independent political movement to be recognised by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany-led state on 8 November 1989...
was elected member of the People's Chamber for the Alliance 90
Alliance 90
Alliance 90 was an alliance of three non-Communist political groups in East Germany. It merged with the German Green Party in 1993 to form Alliance '90/The Greens....
in 1990. Following the Reunification of Germany he became the first Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives, serving from 1990 to 2000. Later he was active as a journalist and talkshow host. His nomination as the candidate of the SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
and the Alliance '90/The Greens
Alliance '90/The Greens
Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir...
for President of Germany
President of Germany
The President of the Federal Republic of Germany is the country's head of state. His official title in German is Bundespräsident . Germany has a parliamentary system of government and so the position of President is largely ceremonial...
in the 2010 election
German presidential election, 2010
An indirect presidential election was held in Germany on 30 June 2010 following the resignation of Horst Köhler as President of Germany on 31 May 2010. Christian Wulff, the candidate nominated by the three governing parties, the Christian Democratic Union, the Christian Social Union of Bavaria and...
received widespread attention.
A founding signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism
Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism
The Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism , which was signed on 3 June 2008, was a declaration signed by prominent European politicians, former political prisoners and historians, including past signatories of Charter 77 such as Václav Havel, which called for condemnation of and...
, together with Václav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
, and the Declaration on Crimes of Communism
Declaration on Crimes of Communism
The Declaration on Crimes of Communism is a declaration signed on 25 February 2010 by several prominent European politicians, former political prisoners, human rights advocates and historians, which calls for the condemnation of communism...
, Gauck has called for increased awareness of communist crimes in Europe and the prosecution of communist criminals.
Life in East Germany
Joachim Gauck was born into a family of sailors in RostockRostock
Rostock -Early history:In the 11th century Polabian Slavs founded a settlement at the Warnow river called Roztoc ; the name Rostock is derived from that designation. The Danish king Valdemar I set the town aflame in 1161.Afterwards the place was settled by German traders...
. His father was an experienced ship's captain and (Captain at Sea
Captain at Sea
Captain at Sea, is a naval rank corresponding to command of a ship-of-the-line or capital ship....
). After he was released as British POW, he worked as an inspector at the Neptun Werft
Neptun Werft
Neptun Werft is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Rostock. Since 1997 it has been part of the Meyer Neptun Group together with Meyer Werft in Papenburg.-History:...
shipbuilding company. The family was a victim of Soviet persecution. When Joachim Gauck was eleven years old, in 1951, his father "disappeared", after being arrested by the Soviet occupation forces. He was falsely accused of espionage for receiving a letter from the West and also of "anti-Soviet demagogy" for being in the possession of a western journal on naval affairs and deported to a Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, where he was severely mistreated. Till 1953, the family knew nothing about what had happened to him and whether he was still alive. Only in 1955, he was freed, following a state visit of Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer was a German statesman. He was the chancellor of the West Germany from 1949 to 1963. He is widely recognised as a person who led his country from the ruins of World War II to a powerful and prosperous nation that had forged close relations with old enemies France,...
to Moscow, who negotiated the release of prisoners of war and political detainees.
According to Joachim Gauck, his political activities were inspired by the ordeal of his father, and he stated that he grew up with a "very reasonable anti-communism". Already in school in East Germany, he made no secret of his anti-communist position, and he steadfastly refused to join the communist youth movement, the Free German Youth
Free German Youth
The Free German Youth, also known as the FDJ , was the official socialist youth movement of the German Democratic Republic and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany....
. He wanted to become a journalist, but because he wasn't a communist, he wasn't allowed to study journalism. Instead he became a pastor in the Protestant church in Mecklenburg and as responsible for church congresses and youth activities. The Stasi described Gauck in their file on him as an "incorrigible anti-communist" ("unverbesserlicher Antikommunist"). Gauck was never directly involved with oppositional groups. However his activities have been monitored by Stasi officers between 1974 and 1988. November 1988 the Stasi assumed no further monitoring would have been necessary.
Gauck has four children, three of whom were able to leave East Germany and emigrate to West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
in the late 1980s. He is legally still married to his first wife but has been separated from her till 1991.
Career during and after Die Wende
He became a member of the New ForumNew Forum
New Forum was a political movement in East Germany formed in the months leading up to the collapse of the East German state. It was founded in September 1989 and was the first independent political movement to be recognised by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany-led state on 8 November 1989...
, a democratic opposition movement, in 1989, and was elected as its spokesman. He also took part in major demonstrations against the communists. In the free elections on 18 March 1990
East German general election, 1990
Legislative elections were held in the German Democratic Republic on 18 March 1990. It was the first—and as it turned out, only—free parliamentary election in East Germany, and the first truly free election held in that part of Germany since 1933...
, he was elected to the People's Chamber of the GDR, representing the Alliance 90
Alliance 90
Alliance 90 was an alliance of three non-Communist political groups in East Germany. It merged with the German Green Party in 1993 to form Alliance '90/The Greens....
(that consisted of the New Forum, Democracy Now
Democracy Now (East Germany)
Democracy Now was a political movement in East Germany founded in the wake of the collapse of Communism that wished to maintain a human, democratic version of socialism in opposition to what they saw as "western consumer society". In 1990 they joined Alliance 90 with New Forum and the Initiative...
and the Initiative for Peace and Human Rights
Initiative for Peace and Human Rights
The Initiative for Peace and Human Rights was the oldest opposition group in East Germany. It was founded at the beginning of 1986 and was independent of the churches and state...
), where he served until the dissolution of the GDR in October 1990.
On October 2, 1990, the day before the dissolution of the GDR, the People's Chamber elected him Special Representative for the Stasi Archives. After the dissolution of the GDR the following day, he was appointed Special Representative of the Federal Government for the Stasi Archives by President Richard von Weizsäcker
Richard von Weizsäcker
Richard Karl Freiherr von Weizsäcker , known as Richard von Weizsäcker, is a German politician . He served as Governing Mayor of West Berlin from 1981 to 1984, and as President of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1984 to 1994...
and Chancellor Helmut Kohl
Helmut Kohl
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl is a German conservative politician and statesman. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union from 1973 to 1998...
. As such, he was in charge of the archives of the former communist secret police, the Stasi
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...
, and tasked with investigating communist crimes. In 1992, his office became known as the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives. He served in this position until 2000, when he was succeeded by Marianne Birthler
Marianne Birthler
Marianne Birthler is a German human rights advocate and politician of the Alliance '90/The Greens...
.
Gauck served as a member of 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...
, the Parliament of Germany, from 3 October to 4 October 1990 (the 1990 People's Chamber was granted the right to nominate a certain number of MPs as part of the reunification process). He stepped down following his appointment as Special Representative of the Federal Government. As such, he was the shortest serving Member of Parliament of Germany ever.
He refused the position of President of the Federal Agency for Civic Education
Federal Agency for Civic Education
The Federal Agency for Civic Education is a German federal government agency responsible for promoting civic education. It is subordinated to the Federal Ministry of the Interior...
as well as offers to be nominated as a candidate for parliament by the SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
. Voices inside the Christian Social Union of Bavaria
Christian Social Union of Bavaria
The Christian Social Union in Bavaria is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It operates only in the state of Bavaria, while its sister party, the Christian Democratic Union , operates in the other 15 states of Germany...
proposed him as a possible conservative presidential candidate (against SPD career politician Johannes Rau
Johannes Rau
Johannes Rau was a German politician of the SPD. He was President of Germany from 1 July 1999 until 30 June 2004, and Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1978 to 1998.-Education and work:...
) in 1999, and his name was also mentioned as a possible candidate for CDU/CSU
CDU/CSU
CDU/CSU, unofficially also referred to as the Union parties or the Union, is the name of the Bundestag parliamentary faction comprising the Christian Democratic Union of Germany and the Christian Social Union of Bavaria , considered to be sister parties...
and FDP
Free Democratic Party (Germany)
The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government...
in subsequent years. For instance the Saxon FDP state party proposed him as a liberal-conservative candidate in 2004, before the leaders of the parties agreed on Horst Köhler
Horst Köhler
Horst Köhler is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union. He was President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the CDU and the CSU, and the liberal FDP, Köhler was elected to his first five-year term by the Federal Assembly on...
.
In 1998, he contributed to the German edition of The Black Book of Communism
The Black Book of Communism
The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression is a book authored by several European academics and edited by Stéphane Courtois, which describes a history of repressions, both political and civilian, by Communist states, including genocides, extrajudicial executions, deportations, and...
, writing an additional chapter on the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
.
Joachim Gauck was invited to hold the main speech during a commemoration ceremony at the Landtag of Saxony
Landtag of Saxony
The Landtag of Saxony, also referred to as the Parliament of Saxony or the Saxon Parliament, is the German state of Saxony's legislature...
in memory of the Reunification of Germany and the fall of the communist regime in 2007. All parties participated, except the far-left party Die Linke (the successor of the East German communist party
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the governing party of the German Democratic Republic from its formation on 7 October 1949 until the elections of March 1990. The SED was a communist political party with a Marxist-Leninist ideology...
), whose members walked out in protest against Gauck giving the speech.
Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism
The Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism , which was signed on 3 June 2008, was a declaration signed by prominent European politicians, former political prisoners and historians, including past signatories of Charter 77 such as Václav Havel, which called for condemnation of and...
(2008) and the Declaration on Crimes of Communism
Declaration on Crimes of Communism
The Declaration on Crimes of Communism is a declaration signed on 25 February 2010 by several prominent European politicians, former political prisoners, human rights advocates and historians, which calls for the condemnation of communism...
(2010), both calling for the condemnation of communism, education about communist crimes and punishment of communist criminals. The Prague Declaration proposed the establishment of the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism
European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism
The European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, also known as the International Black Ribbon Day, which is observed on 23 August, was designated by the European Parliament in 2008/2009 as "a Europe-wide Day of Remembrance for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian...
, that was subsequently designated by the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
. In 2010, Gauck criticized the political left of ignoring communist crimes.
Gauck is a supporter of the idea to etablish a Centre Against Expulsions
Centre Against Expulsions
The Centre Against Expulsions was a planned German documentation centre for expulsions and ethnic cleansing, particularly the expulsion of Germans after World War II. Since March 19, 2008 the name of the project is Sichtbares Zeichen gegen Flucht und Vertreibung...
in Berlin.
On the occasion of his 70th birthday in 2010, Gauck was praised by Chancellor Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
as a "true teacher of democracy" and a "tireless advocate of freedom, democracy and justice".
The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
has described Joachim Gauck as "Germany's answer to Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
".
Gauck is a member of Atlantik-Brücke
Atlantik-Brücke
Atlantik-Brücke is the leading private non-profit association to promote German-American understanding and Atlanticism. Founded in Bonn in 1952, it is now located in Berlin....
, an organisation promoting German-American friendship. He is also the chairman of Gegen Vergessen – Für Demokratie, an organisation combating left-wing and right-wing extremism, and that promotes coming to terms with the legacy of the two totalitarian regimes in German history, advocating democracy.
Presidential candidate
On 3 June 2010, Joachim Gauck was nominated for President of GermanyPresident of Germany
The President of the Federal Republic of Germany is the country's head of state. His official title in German is Bundespräsident . Germany has a parliamentary system of government and so the position of President is largely ceremonial...
in the 2010 election
German presidential election, 2010
An indirect presidential election was held in Germany on 30 June 2010 following the resignation of Horst Köhler as President of Germany on 31 May 2010. Christian Wulff, the candidate nominated by the three governing parties, the Christian Democratic Union, the Christian Social Union of Bavaria and...
by the Social Democratic Party of Germany
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
and the Greens
Alliance '90/The Greens
Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir...
. Gauck is not a member of either the SPD or the Greens (although his former party in East Germany eventually merged with the Greens after reunification) and has stated that he would have accepted a nomination by the CDU as well. Gauck once described himself as a "leftist, liberal conservative" and after his nomination, stated: "I'm neither red nor green, I'm Joachim Gauck". The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , short F.A.Z., also known as the FAZ, is a national German newspaper, founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt am Main. The Sunday edition is the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung .F.A.Z...
described him as a liberal conservative
Liberal conservatism
Liberal conservatism also known as progressive conservatism is a variant of political conservatism which incorporates liberal elements. As "conservatism" and "liberalism" have had different meanings over time and across countries, the term "liberal conservatism" has been used in quite different...
.
Gauck is widely respected across the political spectrum and is very popular also among CDU/CSU and FDP politicians due to his record as an upstanding, moral person during the communist dictatorship as well as his record as a "Stasi
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...
hunter" in the 1990s. His main contender, Christian Wulff
Christian Wulff
Christian Wilhelm Walter Wulff is the President of Germany and a politician of the Christian Democratic Union. He was elected President on 2010 and publicly swore the oath of office on . A lawyer by profession, he served as Premier of the state of Lower Saxony from 2003 to 2010.-Early life and...
, and politicians of all the government parties, stated that they greatly respected Gauck and his life and work. Jörg Schönbohm
Jörg Schönbohm
Jörg Schönbohm is a German politician and a retired Lieutenant General. He was the first commander of the Bundeswehr Eastern Command in 1990, which supervised the absorption of the East German National People's Army into the Federal German armed forces...
, former Chairman of the CDU of Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
, also supported Gauck.
The only party that in principle rejected Gauck as a possible president was The Left
The Left (Germany)
The Left , also commonly referred to as the Left Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The Left is the most left-wing party of the five represented in the Bundestag....
, which interpreted the nomination of the SPD and Greens as a refusal to cooperate with Die Linke, a party which contains internal factions that are considered extremist by federal authorities. CSU politician Philipp Freiherr von Brandenstein argued that the election of Joachim Gauck would prevent any cooperation between SPD/Greens and the party The Left for years to come: "Gauck has likely made it perfectly clear to Gabriel
Sigmar Gabriel
Sigmar Gabriel is a German politician currently chairing the Social Democratic Party of Germany .On 15 December 1999, after the resignation of Gerhard Glogowski, who had succeeded Gerhard Schröder in office, Gabriel became Minister-President of Lower Saxony and served until 4 March 2003...
that he will never appoint any of the apologists of the communist tyranny as government members". The Left nominated their own candidate, former journalist Luc Jochimsen
Luc Jochimsen
Lukrezia Luise "Luc" Jochimsen, née Lukrezia Schleussinger , is a German sociologist, television journalist and politician of the The Left party.-Professional career:...
, and chose to abstain in the third ballot.
In the election on 30 June 2010
German presidential election, 2010
An indirect presidential election was held in Germany on 30 June 2010 following the resignation of Horst Köhler as President of Germany on 31 May 2010. Christian Wulff, the candidate nominated by the three governing parties, the Christian Democratic Union, the Christian Social Union of Bavaria and...
, Gauck was defeated by Christian Wulff
Christian Wulff
Christian Wilhelm Walter Wulff is the President of Germany and a politician of the Christian Democratic Union. He was elected President on 2010 and publicly swore the oath of office on . A lawyer by profession, he served as Premier of the state of Lower Saxony from 2003 to 2010.-Early life and...
in the third ballot, with a margin of 624 to 490.
Selected publications
- 1991: Die Stasi-Akten. Das unheimliche Erbe der DDR. (= rororo 13016) Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1991 ISBN 3-499-13016-5
- 1992: Von der Würde der Unterdrückten (contributor)
- 1993: Verlust und Übermut. Ein Kapitel über den Untertan als Bewohner der Moderne (contributor)
- 1998: Das Schwarzbuch des Kommunismus – Unterdrückung, Verbrechen und TerrorThe Black Book of CommunismThe Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression is a book authored by several European academics and edited by Stéphane Courtois, which describes a history of repressions, both political and civilian, by Communist states, including genocides, extrajudicial executions, deportations, and...
(contributor), Piper Verlag, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-492-04053-5 - 2007: Reite Schritt, Schnitter Tod! Leben und Sterben im Speziallager Nr. 1 des NKWD Mühlberg/Elbe (contributor), Elisabeth Schuster (ed.), German War Graves CommissionGerman War Graves CommissionThe German War Graves Commission is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of German war graves in Europe and North Africa...
, ISBN 978-3-93659-202-3 - 2007: Diktaturerfahrungen der Deutschen im 20. Jahrhundert und was wir daraus lernen können (Schriftenreihe zu Grundlagen, Zielen und Ergebnissen der parliamentarischen Arbeit der CDU-Fraktion des Sächsischen Landtages; Band 42), Dresden 2007
- 2009: Die Flucht der Insassen: Freiheit als Risiko (Weichenstellungen in die Zukunft. Eine Veröffentlichung der Konrad-Adenauer-StiftungKonrad Adenauer FoundationThe Konrad Adenauer Foundation is a German political party foundation associated with the centre-right Christian Democratic Union . The foundation's headquarters are located in Saint Augustine and Berlin. Globally, the KAS has 78 offices and runs programs in over 100 countries...
e.V.). Sankt Augustin-Berlin 2009. ISBN 978-3-941904-20-0 - 2009: Winter im Sommer - Frühling im Herbst. Erinnerungen. München: Siedler 2009 ISBN 978-3-88680-935-6
Honours
- 1991: Theodor Heuss Medal
- 1995: Federal Cross of Merit
- 1996: Hermann Ehlers Prize
- 1997: Hannah Arendt Prize
- 1999: Honorary doctorate of the University of Rostock
- 1999: Imre Nagy Prize of Hungary
- 2000: Dolf Sternberger Prize
- 2001: Erich Kästner Prize
- 2002: „Goldenes Lot“ des Verbandes Deutscher Vermessungsingenieure
- 2003: Courage Preis
- 2005: Honorary doctorate of the University of Augsburg
- 2008: Thomas Dehler Prize
- 2009: Das Glas der Vernunft