1. Erich Mende was a German politician of the Free Democratic Party and Christian Democratic Union.
22 Facts About Erich Mende
1. 2.
Erich Mende was the leader of FDP from 1960 to 1968 and the vice chancellor of Germany from 1963 to 1966.
3.
Erich Mende was the third of four children of Max Mende and his wife Anna, nee Krawietz, of Polish descent.
4.
Erich Mende had a seven-year-older brother Walter and a five-year-older sister Amalie.
5.
Erich Mende's father was the director of a secondary school and, as was usual among Catholics, a supporter of the Centre Party.
6.
Erich Mende grew up in region of Silesia heavily fought over during the Silesian Uprisings of 1919 to 1921 that culminated in the Battle of Annaberg.
7.
Erich Mende experienced the Upper Silesia occupation by British, French and Italian forces, and being governed by an Inter-Allied Committee headed by a French general, Henri Le Rond.
8.
On his release from British custody, Erich Mende took up the study of law and political science at Cologne University, gaining his doctorate in 1949.
9.
Erich Mende helped to found the Free Democratic Party in 1945.
10.
Erich Mende's party was the most freemarket-orientated of the three main German parties.
11.
Erich Mende was elected to the Bundestag in 1949 and rose swiftly through the ranks of his party.
12.
Erich Mende took a rather conservative, traditionalist view of how the new German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, should be structured and trained.
13.
Erich Mende was something of a thorn in Konrad Adenauer's side.
14.
Erich Mende refused to take office, only changing his position once Ludwig Erhard had replaced Adenauer as Chancellor in 1963.
15.
Under Erhard Erich Mende served as Vice-Chancellor and Minister for All-German Affairs.
16.
Erich Mende's task was to promote relations with Communist East Germany, the German Democratic Republic, not then recognised by the West Germans.
17.
Erich Mende inaugurated agreements on road building, especially on the autobahn near Hof to facilitate better communications with West Berlin.
18.
In opposition Erich Mende turned his attention to his finances and worked as representative of the American international investment bank, IOS.
19.
Erich Mende's party veered to the left and he was replaced in January 1968 by Walter Scheel.
20.
Erich Mende's defection did not have much impact on the coalition or his party's fortunes.
21.
Erich Mende served in the Bundestag again as a CDU Member from 1972 through 1980, but failed to make much impact in the ranks of the Christian Democrats.
22.
Margot Erich Mende played an active role in her husband's career.