14 Facts About Burkhard Hirsch

Burkhard Hirsch was a German politician and civil liberties advocate.

Burkhard Hirsch served five years as Minister of the Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Burkhard Hirsch studied law and political sciences at the University of Marburg.

Burkhard Hirsch completed his first and second Staatsexamen in 1954 and 1959, respectively, and earned his Doctor of Laws in 1961 with a doctoral thesis.

Burkhard Hirsch worked as a lawyer at the Amts- und Landgericht Dusseldorf from 1964.

Burkhard Hirsch was a member of the Wirtschaftsvereinigung Eisen- und Stahlindustrie from 1960 to 1967.

Burkhard Hirsch joined the FDP in 1949 and was a member of their youth organisation Jungdemokraten until 1964.

Burkhard Hirsch served on the city council of Dusseldorf from 1964 to 1972 and was president of the regional party from 1971 to 1977.

Burkhard Hirsch served on the party's board in North Rhine-Westphalia from 1971 to 2005, and then became its honorary chairman.

Burkhard Hirsch first attained a seat in the Bundestag in the 1972 federal election.

Burkhard Hirsch left the Bundestag in 1975 to become Minister of the Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia, serving as vice minister-president from 1979.

Burkhard Hirsch gained a reputation as one of the most vocal advocates for civil liberties in Germany, which earned him the Arnold-Freymuth-Preis in 1998 and the Fritz Bauer Prize in 2006.

Burkhard Hirsch was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Goethe University Frankfurt in 2006, and was praised in a speech by Peter-Alexis Albrecht as "a nonpartisan, relentless, and aggressive advocate of the rigorous rule of law".

Burkhard Hirsch was president of the council of the Hochschule Dusseldorf from 2008 to 2015, with a short interruption.