Social Democratic Party of Germany
Which party was Erhard Eppler a member of from 1952 to 1956?
Erhard Eppler Erhard Eppler ( 9 December 1926 – 19 October 2019 ) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party ( SPD ) and founder of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit ( GTZ ) . He studied English , German and history in Frankfurt , Bern and Tübingen , achieved a PhD and worked as a teacher . He met Gustav Heinemann in the late 1940s , who became a role model . Eppler was a member of the Bundestag from 1961 to 1976 . He was appointed Minister for Economic Cooperation first in 1968 during the grand coalition of Kurt Georg Kiesinger ( CDU ) and Willy Brandt ( SPD ) , continuing under Chancellor Brandt in 1969 and Chancellor Helmut Schmidt ( SPD ) in 1974 , when he stepped down . An early thinker on environmental sustainability and peace movements , Eppler was involved in various controversies within his party . He was president of the Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag ( German Protestant Church Assembly ) from 1981 to 1983 and again from 1989 to 1991 . Early years . Born in Ulm on 9 December 1926 , Eppler grew up in Schwäbisch Hall where his father was the headmaster of the local grammar school . His grandfather was pastor at the Ulmer Münster . During World War II , Eppler served from 1943 to 1945 in an anti-aircraft unit . He passed his Abitur in 1946 , and studied English , German and history at the Frankfurt University , in Bern and in Tübingen . In 1951 , he completed his PhD with a thesis on Elizabethan tragedy . He worked as a teacher at the Gymnasium in Schwenningen from 1953 until 1961 . Eppler and political parties . Eppler became a member of the NSDAP in September 1943 , at the age of 16 . Later he spoke of this decision as stupidity , but also said , It wasnt against my will that I ended up on some list [ of members of the NSDAP ] , but I accepted it . Things were like that in those times . While he was studying in Bern at the end of the 1940s , Eppler got to know Gustav Heinemann , one of the founders of the Christian Democratic Union ( CDU ) . Heinemann became Minister of the Interior from 1949 to 1950 , but then left the cabinet , and later the CDU , together with several other party members who disagreed with Chancellor Konrad Adenauers policy of complete integration into the Western world . Eppler joined Heinemanns new party , the All-German Peoples Party ( Gesamtdeutsche Volkspartei ) , in 1952 , but like most members of the GVP , including Heinemann , he changed over to the Social Democratic Party of Germany ( SPD ) in 1956 . For most of the time between 1970 and 1991 Eppler belonged to the SPDs National Executive Committee . He chaired an SPD commission on tax reform , and from 1973 to 1991 served on a commission for formulating the partys basic values ( Grundwertekommission ) , where he supported opposition to atomic energy . From 1973 to 1981 Eppler was the leader of the regional SPD in Baden-Württemberg . He was the SPDs candidate for the office of minister-president in that state , but his party was defeated by the CDU in two state elections . Member of parliament and minister . Eppler was a member of the Bundestag , the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany , from 1961 to 1976 . On 16 October 1968 , Eppler was appointed Minister for Economic Cooperation in the grand coalition government of Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger ( CDU ) and Foreign Minister Willy Brandt ( SPD ) . He continued in that office when Willy Brandt became Chancellor in 1969 , but after his department was subject to severe budget cuts under the following Chancellor , Helmut Schmidt ( SPD ) in 1974 , he stepped down in protest . Political views . Eppler has always been considered to be a proponent of the left within the SPD . During Gerhard Schröders second term as Chancellor ( 2002–2005 ) , however , he supported the governments economic and social reforms , which were widely criticized as neo-liberal ( Agenda 2010 ) . Moreover , although he had been close to the peace movement of the 1980s , he supported the foreign policy of the Schröder government and approved of German participation in the military interventions in Kosovo in 1999 and Afghanistan since 2001 . He was an early adopter of views about ecological topics and environmental protection . In spite of his general loyalty to his partys leadership , he was especially unhappy with much of its economic policy during the partys time in power . In his book Not much time for the Third World , Eppler was one of the first to point out the connections between environmental protection and international development . Social involvement . After his withdrawal from federal politics , Eppler involved himself more in his work in the Protestant Church . From 1981 to 1983 and again from 1989 to 1991 , he was president of the Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag ( German Protestant Church Congress ) . Eppler was also a member of the Wacholderhof Association , which promotes international cooperation , fair trade , and environmental sustainability . Epplers numerous publications also show his political and social involvement . They deal with a wide range of subjects that concern not only the political situation in Germany and the economy but also general questions of developments in politics and society . In 2006 , one of his books on the role of the state was honoured with the Das politische Buch 2006 prize of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation . Works . Epplers books are held by the German National Library , including : - Die tödliche Utopie der Sicherheit . Rowohlt , Reinbek bei Hamburg 1983 , . - Plattform für eine neue Mehrheit . Ein Kommentar zum Berliner Programm der SPD ( = Politik im Taschenbuch . Band 1 ) . Dietz , Bonn 1990 , . - Kavalleriepferde beim Hornsignal . Die Krise der Politik im Spiegel der Sprache ( = Edition Suhrkamp 1788 = NF 788 ) . Suhrkamp , Frankfurt am Main 1992 , . - Privatisierung der politischen Moral ? ( = Edition Suhrkamp . Standpunkte 2185 ) . Suhrkamp , Frankfurt am Main 2000 , . - Komplettes Stückwerk . Erfahrungen aus fünfzig Jahren Politik . Insel-Verlag , Frankfurt am Main u . a . 1996 , . - Eine Partei für das zweite Jahrzehnt : die SPD ? Vorwärts-Buch , Berlin 2008 , . - Der Politik aufs Maul geschaut . Kleines Wörterbuch zum öffentlichen Sprachgebrauch . Dietz , Bonn 2009 , . - Eine solidarische Leistungsgesellschaft . Epochenwechsel nach der Blamage der Marktliberalen . Dietz , Bonn 2011 , . - Links leben . Erinnerungen eines Wertkonservativen . Propyläen Verlag , Berlin 2015 , . External links . - Erhard Eppler ( related articles ) FAZ - Erhard Eppler willy-brandt-biografie.de - Die eilende Zeit ( documentary ) 100jahre-derfilm.de , 2007 - Der Gott des Wettbewerbs taz , 12 December 2007 - Reden wir über Geld . Interview . Süddeutsche Zeitung , 24 April 2009