1. Wolfgang Thierse served as the 11th president of the Bundestag from 1998 to 2005.
22 Facts About Wolfgang Thierse
1. 2.
Wolfgang Thierse is a Roman Catholic and grew up in East Germany.
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From 1977 to 1990 Thierse worked as a research assistant at the Central Institute of the History of Literature in the Academy of Arts and Sciences of the GDR.
4.
Wolfgang Thierse was one of the editors of the "Historical Dictionary of Aesthetic Concepts".
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Wolfgang Thierse was particularly impressed by Carlo Schmid, Herbert Wehner, and later Willy Brandt.
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In October 1989, Wolfgang Thierse joined the opposition group New Forum and in January 1990 the Social Democratic Party in the GDR, whose leader he became in June.
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Wolfgang Thierse belonged to various party commissions, which dealt with subjects like the party's basic values, or the special problems of East Germany.
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Wolfgang Thierse was elected as a member of the East German parliament in 1990.
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Wolfgang Thierse was his parliamentary group's deputy chairman from 1994 on, under the leadership of its chairman Rudolf Scharping.
10.
Wolfgang Thierse had not been a lifelong resistance fighter against the rule of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany nor had he ever identified with that rule, he said, but he represented a large majority of the East German population in that.
11.
Wolfgang Thierse served for two terms until October 2005, when he was succeeded by Norbert Lammert.
12.
Wolfgang Thierse has never given the impression "to be in the sole possession of truth".
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Wolfgang Thierse has always shown a great interest in inter-cultural dialogue.
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Wolfgang Thierse passionately promoted the idea that the Bundestag should move to Berlin, thereby underlining the process of reunification.
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Wolfgang Thierse was especially involved in the fight against right-wing extremism.
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In 2002, Wolfgang Thierse demanded the abolition of checks on former Stasi employees.
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Wolfgang Thierse served on the Committee on Cultural Affairs and Media.
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Wolfgang Thierse has published several books, especially about the situation in East Germany.
19.
On 30 December 2012, Wolfgang Thierse caused outrage by an interview in a Berlin paper, criticizing gentrification tendencies in formerly poor Berlin inner city districts such as Prenzlauer Berg and Kreuzberg.
20.
Wolfgang Thierse specifically mentioned so called "Swabians" who serve as prototype for wealthy migrants from western Germany who often work in highly paid jobs in the Berlin media and culture industry, as well as government and industry organizations, replacing the original Berlin under-class population.
21.
Wolfgang Thierse specifically mentioned the usage of Swabian or more generally South-German terms for food like "Wecken" or "Pflaumendatschis" instead of the Berlin dialect variants for rolls or plum cakes respectively.
22.
Wolfgang Thierse received strong criticism from prominent Swabians such as Cem Ozdemir and by European Commissioner for Energy Gunther Oettinger, as well as by fellow high-ranking SPD party members.