Manfred Stolpe

Manfred Stolpe (16 May 1936 – 29 December 2019) was Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs of Germany from 2002 until 2005. Before, he was Ministerpräsident of the state Brandenburg from 1990 until 2002.

Manfred Stolpe in 2015

Biography

Stolpe was born in Stettin (today Szczecin in Poland). He studied law at the University of Jena in German Democratic Republic (GDR) (1955–1959). In 1959 he became active in the Protestant Church in Berlin-Brandenburg, then comprising East Berlin and West Berlin and the region of Brandenburg, and was a guest student at the Free University of Berlin until 1961.[1]

Between 1962 and 1969 he was Head of the Secretariat of the Conference of Governing Bodies of the Evangelical Churches in the GDR. After this he became Head of the Secretariat of the Federation of Evangelical Churches (GDR), a post which he held until 1981. During this time he was appointed to the World Council of Churches "Commission on International Relations".

In 1982 Stolpe became Consistorial President of the Eastern Region of the then divided Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg and, as such, a member of the Conference of Governing Bodies of the Evangelical Churches in the GDR; at the same time he was one of the two deputy chairmen of the Federation of Evangelical Churches. He gave up these positions in 1990 and 1989 respectively. He was a Stasi informer for 20 years while in the church.[2]

In July 1990 he joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and on 14 October of that year he was elected to the Brandenburg State Assembly. Shortly afterwards, on 1 November 1990, he was elected Ministerpräsident of the State of Brandenburg. He was re-elected twice and he held the position until his resignation on 26 June 2002. From May 1991 to 26 June 2002 he was a Member of the SPD National Executive. From 22 October 2002 to November 2005 Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs.[3]

Personal

He married Ingrid Stolpe, a physician (now retired) in 1961. The couple had one child. They both received treatment for cancer, a subject on which they wrote a book and spoke on television.[4]

Awards

Stolpe has received Honorary Doctorates in Theology from the University of Greifswald (November 1989), from the University of Zurich (April 1991) and in Economics from the University of Szczecin (June 1996).

References
  1. "Manfred Stolpe". Die Chronik der Wende (in German). Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB). Retrieved 2010-11-28.
  2. Protokoll der Enquetekommission, 11. Sitzung vom 24. Juni 2011
  3. "Manfred Stolpe". Who's Who (in German). Retrieved 2010-11-28.
  4. Manfred Stolpe: In der Pflicht der deutsch-deutschen Geschichte Die Zeit, 16 July 2011. "Die Stasi und er hatten schon immer eine verdächtige Beziehung. Nun muss Manfred Stolpe wieder damit umgehen, im Zentrum einer heftigen Debatte zu stehen."
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