Helmut Schmidt

**Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt** (23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician. He was Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1974 to 1982.

Helmut Schmidt was born in Hamburg in 1918. He finished school in 1937 with the Abitur. Afterwards he had to join the working service and later the army. At the end of World War II, he was a First Lieutenant. He became a prisoner of war in 1945.

After he was set free, he started to study macro economy. He finished his studies in 1949. Then he started to work for the administration of Hamburg.

Schmidt joined into the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1949. In 1953, he became a member of the Bundestag first time. From 1961 to 1965, he was Senator in the state government of Hamburg.

From 1969 to 1972, he was Minister of Defence of West Germany. From 1972 to 1974 he was Minister of Finance.

After Willy Brandt gave up his job as _Bundeskanzler_, Helmut Schmidt was elected as new chancellor.

In July 2013, it was discovered that Schmidt bought 38,000 cigarettes due to a fear of them being banned in Europe.

Schmidt died in Hamburg on 10 November 2015 from complications of surgery he had to cure a blood clot in his left leg. He was 96 years old.

## Other websites

- Biography at the German Historic Museum (German)
- Chancellor Site (German)
- Helmut Schmidt University (English)
- Talks:
    - Die Selbstbehauptung Europas im neuen Jahrhundert (German, 2000)
    - Kröten und Paragrafenwahn (German, 2006)
    - Schmidt's talk on the occasion of China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao visiting Hamburg (English, 2006)
    - Interview on nuclear strategy in Europe  for the WGBH series, War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
    - _Booknotes_ interview with Schmidt on _Men and Powers_, 15 April 1990.
        - _Men and Powers: A Political Retrospective_ on Google Books.

## Infobox (military person)

- **embed**: yes
- **serviceyears**: 1937–1945
- **rank**: Oberleutnant (d.R.)
- **unit**: 1st Panzer Division (Wehrmacht), 1st Panzer Division
- **battles**: Second World War
*Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front
**Operation Barbarossa
***Siege of Leningrad
***Battle of Moscow
*Western Front (World War II), Western Front
**Battle of the Bulge
- **awards**: Iron Cross, Iron Cross 2nd Class


## Infobox (officeholder)

- **name**: Helmut Schmidt
- **image**: Bundeskanzler Helmut Schmidt (cropped, ratio 2 to 3).jpg
- **signature**: Helmut Schmidt Signature.svg
- **party**: Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party
- **office**: Chancellor of Germany
<small>(West Germany)</small>
- **predecessor**: Willy Brandt
- **president**: Gustav Heinemann
Walter Scheel
Karl Carstens
- **successor**: Helmut Kohl
- **1namedata**: Hans-Dietrich Genscher
Egon Franke (politician), Egon Franke
- **term start**: 16 May 1974
- **term end**: 1 October 1982
- **office1**: Federal Ministry of Finance (Germany), Federal Minister of Finance
<small>(West Germany)</small>
- **chancellor1**: Willy Brandt
- **predecessor1**: Karl Schiller
- **successor1**: Hans Apel
- **term start1**: 7 July 1972
- **term end1**: 16 May 1974
- **office2**: Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Federal Minister for Economics
<small>(West Germany)</small>
- **chancellor2**: Willy Brandt
- **predecessor2**: Karl Schiller
- **successor2**: Hans Friderichs
- **term start2**: 7 July 1972
- **term end2**: 15 December 1972
- **office3**: Federal Ministry of Defence (Germany), Federal Minister of Defence
<small>(West Germany)</small>
- **chancellor3**: Willy Brandt
- **term start3**: 22 October 1969
- **term end3**: 7 July 1972
- **predecessor3**: Gerhard Schröder (CDU), Gerhard Schröder
- **successor3**: Georg Leber
- **office4**: Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, SPD Group in the Bundestag
<small>(West Germany)</small>
- **predecessor4**: Fritz Erler (politician), Fritz Erler
- **successor4**: Herbert Wehner
- **deputy4**: Egon Franke (politician), Egon Franke
Martin Hirsch
Ernst Schellenberg
- **term start4**: 14 March 1967
- **term end4**: 22 October 1969
- **office5**: Member of the Bundestag
for Hamburg, Hamburg-Bergedorf
- **term start5**: 20 October 1969
- **term end5**: 18 February 1987
- **predecessor5**: Nikolaus Jürgensen
- **successor5**: Rolf Niese
- **office8**: Member of the Bundestag
for Hamburg, Hamburg-Nord II
- **term start8**: 15 October 1957
- **term end8**: 17 October 1965
- **predecessor8**: Willy Max Rademacher
- **successor8**: Rolf Meinecke
- **office6**: Member of the Bundestag
for Hamburg
- **term start6**: 19 October 1965
- **term end6**: 19 October 1969
- **constituency6**: Electoral system of Germany, Party list
- **term start7**: 6 October 1953
- **term end7**: 6 October 1957
- **constituency7**: Electoral system of Germany, Party list
- **office9**: Government of Hamburg, Senator of the Interior of Hamburg
- **1namedata9**: Paul Nevermann
Herbert Weichmann
- **term start9**: 13 December 1961
- **term end9**: 14 December 1965
- **predecessor9**: Wilhelm Kröger
- **successor9**: Heinz Ruhau
- **birth name**: Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt
- **birth place**: Hamburg, Weimar Republic
- **death place**: Hamburg, Germany
- **resting place**: Ohlsdorf Cemetery
- **partner**: Ruth Loah (2012–2015)
- **children**: 2
- **alma mater**: University of Hamburg