Minister of Intra-German Relations

The Federal Minister of Intra-German Relations (German: Bundesminister für innerdeutsche Beziehungen) was a federal cabinet minister of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). The office was created under the title of Federal Minister of All-German Affairs (Bundesminister für gesamtdeutsche Fragen) in 1949, being also in charge of the German lands east of the Oder–Neisse line which had been put under Polish or Soviet administration. In 1951, the first Minister of All-German Affairs Jakob Kaiser openly raised claim to even greater territories including Austria, parts of Switzerland, the Saar area and Alsace-Lorraine.[1]

Federal Minister of Intra-German Relations
Bundesminister für innerdeutsche Beziehungen
Coat of arms of Germany.
Longest serving
Egon Franke
22 October 1969 – 1 October 1982
StatusAbolished
Member ofthe Cabinet
Reports tothe Chancellor
Formation20 September 1949
First holderJakob Kaiser
Final holderDorothee Wilms
Abolished9 November 1989 (effectively)
18 January 1991 (formally)
SuccessionFederal Minister of the Interior

The ministry was renamed in 1969 because "All-German" might have evoked irredentist associations. The change of the name was supported by both left- and right-wing politicians.

The ministry was abolished in 1991 when a new government was established after the federal election of December 1990, some months after German reunification, having supported the transition.

Since West Germany maintained an exclusive mandate for all of Germany, and the legal pretense that the authorities of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) or Soviet occupation zone (SBZ) should not be recognized, it could not handle relations with East Germany through the Federal Foreign Office, since this would acknowledge that the GDR was a separate country. Hence, a separate ministry for relations within Germany had to be created. Since this ministry had very limited competence and virtually no political power, it soon became a post used by chancellors to block rivals without publicly offending them. One of the main tasks of the ministry was the publication of information material about the situation in the East, to keep the idea of German unity alive and to inform the public about actions of the East German government.

When German reunification became a possibility after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the opening of the inner German border on 9 November 1989, the ministry was completely disempowered by Chancellor Helmut Kohl; all intra-German affairs were now handled by the Ministry of the Interior under Wolfgang Schäuble. Formally, the ministry continued to exist until 1991 in order to facilitate transition.

Ministers

Political Party:   CDU   FDP   SPD

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)		 Term Political Party Government
Took office Left office Time in office
Federal Minister of All-German Affairs
1
Jakob Kaiser
Jakob Kaiser
(1888–1961)		20 September 194929 October 19578 years, 39 daysCDUAdenauer I–II
2
Ernst Lemmer
Ernst Lemmer
(1898–1970)		29 October 195713 December 19625 years, 45 daysCDUAdenauer III–IV
3
Rainer Barzel
Rainer Barzel
(1924–2006)		14 December 196211 October 1963301 daysCDUAdenauer V
4
Erich Mende
Erich Mende
(1916–1998)		17 October 196328 October 19663 years, 11 daysFDPErhard I–II
5
Johann Baptist Gradl
Johann Baptist Gradl
(1904–1988)		28 October 196630 November 196633 daysCDUErhard II
6
Herbert Wehner
Herbert Wehner
(1906–1990)		1 December 196621 October 19692 years, 324 daysSPDKiesinger
Federal Minister of Intra-German Relations
7
Egon Franke
Egon Franke
(1913–1995)		22 October 19691 October 198212 years, 344 daysSPDBrandt I–II
Schmidt I–II–III
8
Rainer Barzel
Rainer Barzel
(1924–2006)		4 October 198229 March 1983176 daysCDUKohl I
9
Heinrich Windelen
Heinrich Windelen
(1921–2015)		30 March 198311 March 19873 years, 346 daysCDUKohl II
10
Dorothee Wilms
Dorothee Wilms
(born 1929)		12 March 198718 January 19913 years, 312 daysCDUKohl III

Publications
  • BMgF (Hrsg.): SBZ von A-Z, Deutscher Bundes-Verlag, Bonn, 1. bis 10. Aufl., 1953 bis 1966, ca. 500 Seiten.
  • BMgF (Hrsg.): Sowjetische Auffassungen zur Deutschlandfrage 1945–1954. Dargestellt nach amtlichen Dokumenten, Deutscher Bundes-Verlag, Bonn, 1954.
  • BMgF (Hrsg.): Wer ist wer in der SBZ? Ein biographisches Handbuch, Verlag für Internationalen Kulturaustausch, Berlin, 1958.
  • BMgF (Hrsg.): Die Situation der Jugend im kommunistischen Herrschaftssystem der SBZ Deutschlands in Bonner Berichte aus Mittel- und Ostdeutschland, Bonn – Berlin, 1960.
  • BMgF (Hrsg.): Die Bemühungen der Bundesrepublik um Wiederherstellung der Einheit Deutschlands durch gesamtdeutsche Wahlen. Dokumente und Akten. I. Teil, Oktober 1949–Oktober 1953, Deutscher Bundes-Verlag, Bonn, 1958.

See also

References
  1. Speech held at the party congress of Austrian People's Party in Salzburg, 2 March 1951. Quoted in: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 26 January 1952, page 5
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