Neu Leonstein
22-02-2006, 01:32
Well, we've got an American one, and a British one, and so I add a German one.
Konrad Adenauer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Adenauer)
From 1917-1933 he was mayor of Cologne, but during the Nazi era he lost his job, was briefly imprisoned, and stayed out of the public light. He was accused of being part in the assassination attempt on Hitler, but he wasn't involved, since he had declined the offer.
In the tough times after the war, he can be credited with restoring much of Germany's credibility and integrating Germany into the West.
Ludwig Erhard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Erhard)
A good friend of Adenauer's, this economist is the chief architect of the social market economy and of the economic miracle. When the allies wanted to keep the price controls in the country, it was Erhard who abolished them (although that wasn't his job...) In my view, that alone makes him 2nd only to Bismarck.
Kurt Kiesinger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Georg_Kiesinger)
Well, he was boring. His only notable "achievement" was that he headed the first Grand Coalition, which has become somewhat topical these days.
Willy Brandt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_Brandt)
He's generally regarded as the best man the SPD ever had. He got the Nobel Peace Prize, managed to normalise relations somewhat with East Germany and other communist countries, which was quite controversial. He also took a couragous stand on the holocaust, when he fell to his knees at a memorial on a state visit to Poland. He had to resign when it was found out that one of his close co-workers and friends was a communist spy...
Helmut Schmidt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Schmidt)
I like the guy because he is a big part of my favourite newspaper, Die Zeit, and because he's from Hamburg. He took a fairly tough line on Germany's own terrorist threat, the RAF, and continued to emphasise ties with Nato.
Helmut Kohl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Kohl)
Big Man Kohl...well, he was a political animal - most likely an elephant. He crushed all opposition, both inside his party and out, and made Germany his own for 16 years.
Pros include the reunification, which he pulled off against resistance from all sides.
Cons include the way the reunification was handled and his involvement in the CDU corruption scandal.
Nonetheless, he's good for quotes.
"I have been underestimated for decades. I've done very well that way."
"We never want to wage war again against each other. We want to honour the dead and tend to the graves but we never again want to have soldiers' tombs in Europe. That is the most important reason for a united Europe."
Gerhard Schröder (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Schr%C3%B6der)
Well, most of you would know all there is to know about him. He's probably more like Kohl than he would admit, they both are animals when it comes to politics.
At any rate, most notably among Schröder's achievements were keeping Germany out of Iraq, leaving nuclear energy (I disagree with that one) and finally beginning the long reform process that really should have been done by Kohl.
These days, he's somewhat fallen from grace because he now has a cushy job with an oil consortium he himself set up with his good friend Putin.
Angela Merkel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Merkel)
The first female leader of Germany, her achievements were that she managed to take out some big names in the race to the top (just like Kohl people tend to underestimate her), she managed to get the left-wing SPD to agree to a coalition with her right-wing CDU, and she created some sort of compromise at the recent EU budget talks.
And even the economy seems to be doing all right, although in her bid to get the country's finances back in order she'll raise the sales tax a little soon, and we'll see how that turns out.
Konrad Adenauer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Adenauer)
From 1917-1933 he was mayor of Cologne, but during the Nazi era he lost his job, was briefly imprisoned, and stayed out of the public light. He was accused of being part in the assassination attempt on Hitler, but he wasn't involved, since he had declined the offer.
In the tough times after the war, he can be credited with restoring much of Germany's credibility and integrating Germany into the West.
Ludwig Erhard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Erhard)
A good friend of Adenauer's, this economist is the chief architect of the social market economy and of the economic miracle. When the allies wanted to keep the price controls in the country, it was Erhard who abolished them (although that wasn't his job...) In my view, that alone makes him 2nd only to Bismarck.
Kurt Kiesinger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Georg_Kiesinger)
Well, he was boring. His only notable "achievement" was that he headed the first Grand Coalition, which has become somewhat topical these days.
Willy Brandt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_Brandt)
He's generally regarded as the best man the SPD ever had. He got the Nobel Peace Prize, managed to normalise relations somewhat with East Germany and other communist countries, which was quite controversial. He also took a couragous stand on the holocaust, when he fell to his knees at a memorial on a state visit to Poland. He had to resign when it was found out that one of his close co-workers and friends was a communist spy...
Helmut Schmidt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Schmidt)
I like the guy because he is a big part of my favourite newspaper, Die Zeit, and because he's from Hamburg. He took a fairly tough line on Germany's own terrorist threat, the RAF, and continued to emphasise ties with Nato.
Helmut Kohl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Kohl)
Big Man Kohl...well, he was a political animal - most likely an elephant. He crushed all opposition, both inside his party and out, and made Germany his own for 16 years.
Pros include the reunification, which he pulled off against resistance from all sides.
Cons include the way the reunification was handled and his involvement in the CDU corruption scandal.
Nonetheless, he's good for quotes.
"I have been underestimated for decades. I've done very well that way."
"We never want to wage war again against each other. We want to honour the dead and tend to the graves but we never again want to have soldiers' tombs in Europe. That is the most important reason for a united Europe."
Gerhard Schröder (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Schr%C3%B6der)
Well, most of you would know all there is to know about him. He's probably more like Kohl than he would admit, they both are animals when it comes to politics.
At any rate, most notably among Schröder's achievements were keeping Germany out of Iraq, leaving nuclear energy (I disagree with that one) and finally beginning the long reform process that really should have been done by Kohl.
These days, he's somewhat fallen from grace because he now has a cushy job with an oil consortium he himself set up with his good friend Putin.
Angela Merkel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Merkel)
The first female leader of Germany, her achievements were that she managed to take out some big names in the race to the top (just like Kohl people tend to underestimate her), she managed to get the left-wing SPD to agree to a coalition with her right-wing CDU, and she created some sort of compromise at the recent EU budget talks.
And even the economy seems to be doing all right, although in her bid to get the country's finances back in order she'll raise the sales tax a little soon, and we'll see how that turns out.