Hans-Dietrich Genscher

Hans-Dietrich Genscher
Genscher in 1978
Vice Chancellor of Germany (West Germany until 1990)
In office 1 October 1982 – 17 May 1992
President	Karl Carstens Richard von Weizsäcker
Chancellor	Helmut Kohl
Preceded by	Egon Franke
Succeeded by	Jürgen Möllemann
In office 17 May 1974 – 17 September 1982
President	Gustav Heinemann Walter Scheel Karl Carstens
Chancellor	Helmut Schmidt
Preceded by	Walter Scheel
Succeeded by	Egon Franke
Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office 1 October 1982 – 17 May 1992
Chancellor	Helmut Kohl
Preceded by	Helmut Schmidt
Succeeded by	Klaus Kinkel
In office 17 May 1974 – 17 September 1982
Chancellor	Helmut Schmidt
Preceded by	Walter Scheel
Succeeded by	Helmut Schmidt
Leader of the Free Democratic Party
In office 1 October 1974 – 23 February 1985
Preceded by	Walter Scheel
Succeeded by	Martin Bangemann
Federal Minister of the Interior
In office 22 October 1969 – 16 May 1974
Chancellor	Willy Brandt
Preceded by	Ernst Benda
Succeeded by	Werner Maihofer
Member of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia
In office 19 September 1965 – 26 October 1998
Constituency	FDP List
Personal details
Born	(1927-03-21)21 March 1927 Reideburg, Prussia, Germany
Died	31 March 2016(2016-03-31) (aged 89) Wachtberg, Germany
Political party	Free Democratic Party of Germany (1952–2016)
Other political affiliations	Nazi Party (until 1945) Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (GDR) (1946–1952)
Spouses	Luise Schweitzer ​ ​ (m. 1958; div. 1966)​ Barbara Genscher ​ (m. 1969)​
Alma mater	Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg Leipzig University (Staatsexamen)
Occupation	Politician
Signature
Website	genscher.de

Hans-Dietrich Genscher (21 March 1927 – 31 March 2016) was a German statesman and a member of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 1969 to 1974, and as Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and Vice Chancellor of Germany from 1974 to 1992 (except for a two-week break in 1982, after the FDP had left the Third Schmidt cabinet), making him the longest-serving occupant of either post and the only person to have held one of these positions under two different Chancellors of the Federal Republic of Germany. In 1991 he was chairman of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

A proponent of Realpolitik, Genscher has been called "a master of diplomacy".^[1] He is widely regarded as having been a principal "architect of German reunification".^[2] In 1991, he played a pivotal role in international diplomacy surrounding the breakup of Yugoslavia by successfully pushing for international recognition of Croatia, Slovenia and other republics declaring independence, in an effort to halt "a trend towards a Greater Serbia".^[3] After leaving office, he worked as a lawyer and international consultant. He was President of the German Council on Foreign Relations and was involved with several international organisations, and with former Czech President Václav Havel, he called for a Cold War museum to be built in Berlin.