Eberhard Diepgen

Eberhard Diepgen (born 13 November 1941)[1] is a German politician of the CDU.

Eberhard Diepgen
Governing Mayor of Berlin
In office
24 January 1991 – 16 June 2001
DeputyChristine Bergmann
Annette Fugmann-Heesing
Klaus Böger
Preceded byWalter Momper (West)
Thomas Krüger (East)
Succeeded byKlaus Wowereit
Governing Mayor of West Berlin
In office
9 February 1984 – 16 March 1989
DeputyHeinrich Lummer
Hanna-Renate Laurien
Preceded byRichard von Weizsäcker
Succeeded byWalter Momper
Member of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin
In office
14 March 1971 – 21 October 2001
ConstituencyState Wide List
Personal details
Born (1941-11-13) 13 November 1941
Berlin
NationalityGerman
Political partyChristian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU)
ResidenceBerlin
Alma materFree University of Berlin

Early life

Diepgen was born in Berlin-Wedding, and studied law at the Free University of Berlin.

Political career

Diepgen was mayor of West Berlin from 1984 to 1989 and a reunited Berlin from 1991 to 2001.[2]

Mayor of West Berlin, 1984-1989

In February 1984, the West Berlin House of Deputies elected Diepgen, who ran unopposed, as the city's new mayor. He replaced Richard von Weizsäcker, who resigned to take the post of President of West Germany.[3] Under Diepgen's leadership, the CDU also won the 1985 state elections.

In March 1987, Diepgen visited Washington, D.C. for meetings with President Ronald Reagan, Vice President George H. Bush, and National Security Advisor Frank Carlucci.[4]

Also in March 1987, Diepgen was invited by East German leader Erich Honecker to come to East Berlin to join celebrations marking the 750th anniversary of the founding of Berlin in the 13th century.[5] Apparently bowing to Soviet pressure, East Germany later canceled its invitation.[6]

In late 1988, Diepgen called a state election on relatively short notice, hoping to capitalize on his personal popularity and to pre-empt an assault on the Christian Democrats over local problems such as a housing shortage and unpopular national policies, including proposed changes in the health service.[7] In January 1989, his center-right government suffered severe losses in a state election that saw an unexpectedly strong showing by a far-right party, which campaigned on an anti-foreigner platform, and a win of the Social Democrats under Walter Momper.[8] Diepgen subsequently resigned from his office and became the leader of the opposition.

Mayor of Berlin, 1990-2001

Diepgen was again elected mayor in the first state elections of the united Berlin in 1990.[9]

Under Diepgen's leadership, Berlin was among the states that voted in 1991 to keep the Bundesrat, the upper house of Germany's Parliament, in Bonn, despite the decision to move the Bundestag and most government agencies to Berlin;[10] the Bundesrat eventually also moved to the new capital.

Also in 1991, Diepgen ordered the removal of a 3.5-tonne sculpture of Vladimir Lenin, wanting to rid the city of an icon of a “dictatorship where people were persecuted and murdered.”[11]

In May 1996, Diepgen – together with the Federal Minister of Transport Matthias Wissmann and the Minister-President of Brandenburg Manfred Stolpe – committed to Schönefeld as the site for the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport on 28 May 1996. This so-called consensus decision was later affirmed by the respective state legislatures.[12]

In 1999, news media first reported about a dispute between Diepgen and the U.S. Department of State over American demands for special security treatment for its new Berlin embassy not sought by other countries that had built embassies in the same area, including Britain and France.[13] As a result, the construction of the embassy was delayed over several years by a dispute over how large a buffer zone it requires for security.[14]

Amid the revelations of the CDU donations scandal in early 2000, Diepgen opposed Angela Merkel as new chairwoman of the party.[15]

On July 6, 2000, Diepgen signed a treaty with Matheus Shikongo, the Mayor of Windhoek, on a twin city partnership between the two municipalities.

In September 2000, Diepgen pardoned two former members of the East German Politburo, Günter Schabowski and Günther Kleiber, who were jailed for their role in East Germany's shoot-to-kill policy at the Berlin Wall.[16]

In June 2001, the Social Democrats announced that they were withdrawing from Diepgen's administration and tabled a motion of no-confidence in Diepgen, accusing him of mismanagement and corruption.[17] Diepgen resigned, and Klaus Wowereit became acting mayor.[18]

Ahead of the 2002 federal elections, Diepgen resigned as chairman of the CDU in Berlin after having failed to secure the top position on the party's list for the elections. He was succeeded by Joachim Zeller.

Life after politics

Following his resignation in 2001, Diepgen joined the Berlin office of German law firm Thümmel, Schütze & Partner.[19]

In addition, Diepgen has held various paid and unpaid positions, including the following:

Diepgen was a CDU delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2017.[26]

Controversy

In 1986, Diepgen acknowledged accepting 50,000 West German marks, or about $21,000, from real estate investor Kurt Franke without having reported the amount as a party contribution as demanded by law. The Mayor later added that the total might have been 75,000 marks.[27] As part of the bribery allegations, a total of 37 businessmen and politicians were under investigation, and more than 100 offices and homes were searched.[28]

At the funeral of actress Marlene Dietrich in 1992, a simple graveside service at Städtischer Friedhof III, Diepgen was booed by Berliners who had been angered and disappointed by the city's failure to mount a formal tribute.[29]

Diepgen did not attend the inauguration of Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, stating his agenda was too full to make it.[30] He had backed a plan for a far smaller stone memorial inscribed simply with the words Thou Shalt not Kill proposed by theologian Richard Schröder, saying that its precision, dignity and modesty gave it more power than Peter Eisenman's project.[31]

Selected awards

See also

References
  1. http://www.berlin.de/rbmskzl/regierender-buergermeister/buergermeister-von-berlin/buergermeistergalerie/artikel.4635.php
  2. "Eberhard Diepgen". Berlin. Archived from the original on 22 August 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  3. West Berlin Elects Mayor The New York Times, February 10, 1984.
  4. Reagan to Visit Berlin for Its 750th Birthday Los Angeles Times, March 4, 1987.
  5. James M. Markham (March 22, 1987), Berlin at Age 750: Unusual Political Prospects The New York Times.
  6. E. German Invitation to W. Berlin Mayor Abruptly Canceled Los Angeles Times, May 7, 1987.
  7. Serge Schmemann (January 30, 1989), Coalition Set Back In Berlin The New York Times.
  8. William Tuohy (January 30, 1989), Bonn Jolted as Rightists Gain in W. Berlin Vote Los Angeles Times.
  9. John Tagliabue (December 3, 1990), Berliners Vote for a City Council That Will Be Run by Kohl's Party The New York Times.
  10. Stephen Kinzer (July 6, 1991), SOME LEGISLATORS TO REMAIN IN BONN The New York Times.
  11. Granite head of Lenin unearthed for new Berlin exhibition The Guardian, September 10, 2015.
  12. "Konsensbeschluss zur Tempelhof-Schließung" [Consensus decision for the closure of Tempelhof]. Der Tagesspiegel (in German). 18 June 2007. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  13. Steven Erlanger (May 3, 2002), Germans Agree on a New U.S. Embassy in Berlin The New York Times.
  14. Roger Cohen (October 28, 1999), Berlin Journal; Germans Are Balking at U.S. Embassy Blueprint The New York Times.
  15. Thomas Holl (February 19, 2000), Diepgen will Merkel als CDU-Chefin verhindern Die Welt.
  16. Victor Homola (September 7, 2000), Easterners Pardoned The New York Times.
  17. Peter Finn (June 11, 2001), Once West's Showcase, Berlin Dogged by Debt The Washington Post.
  18. Steven Erlanger (October 22, 2001), Socialists Keep Berlin, and Ex-Communists Do Well, Too The New York Times.
  19. Ex-Regierender: Ich habe nicht gegen das Land Berlin gehandelt Der Tagesspiegel, September 10, 2002.
  20. Board of Trustees Ernst Reuter Archives.
  21. Board of Trustees Evangelische Akademie zu Berlin.
  22. Members Friends of the Academy of the Arts.
  23. Board Gegen Vergessen – Für Demokratie.
  24. Members Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
  25. Claudia Fuchs (December 17, 2010), Stiftung der Hauptstadtzoos nimmt Arbeit auf: Eberhard Diepgen umwirbt die tierlieben Berliner Berliner Zeitung.
  26. Liste: Das sind die Berliner Mitglieder der Bundesversammlung Berliner Zeitung, December 9, 2016.
  27. James M. Markham (February 22, 1986), Berlin’s Scandal Recipe: Bosses, Bribes, Brothels The New York Times.
  28. James M. Markham (February 22, 1986), Berlin’s Scandal Recipe: Bosses, Bribes, Brothels The New York Times.
  29. Stephen Kinzer (May 17, 1992), Dietrich Buried in Berlin, and Sentiment Is Mixed The New York Times.
  30. Roger Cohen (2000-01-18). "Berlin Mayor to Shun Holocaust Memorial Event". The New York Times. Retrieved 2003-08-12.
  31. Roger Cohen (June 26, 1999), Berlin Holocaust Memorial Approved The New York Times.
Political offices
Preceded by
Richard von Weizsäcker		 Mayor of West Berlin
1984–1989		 Succeeded by
Walter Momper
Preceded by
Walter Momper		 Mayor of Berlin
1991–2001		 Succeeded by
Klaus Wowereit
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