Ernst Welteke

Ernst Welteke ( born August 21, 1942 in Korbach ) is a German SPD politician and economist. He was 1999-2004 President of the Deutsche Bundesbank.

Life

The qualified agricultural machine earned his high school diploma through second-chance education on Wiesbaden Hesse College and then studied economics in Marburg and at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. His political career began in the diploma in economics in local politics (as Member of District Assembly and chairman of the SPD in Hochtaunuskreis ) and since 1972 as an employee of the prime minister of Hesse Albert Osswald.

In 1974 he became a member of the Hesse state parliament, where he remained until 1995. Since 1984, the beginning of the first red-green coalition, Welteke was a brief interruption ( from April 1987 to the resignation of Hans Krollmann in February 1988) chairman of the SPD parliamentary group.

In the new edition of Red -Green coalition in Hesse in 1991 Welteke joined as Minister of Economic Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Hans Eichel. After due to the lottery affair resignation of Annette Fugmann - Heesing as Finance Minister Welteke, in 1994 the Finance Department.

1995 Welteke - appointed president of the country's central bank in Hesse - on a proposal of his longtime political ally glans. During this time Welteke convinced many critics who had doubted when he was appointed to decide whether a long-term career politicians have the necessary expertise for this office.

On 1 September 1999 Welteke was - again through the use of Hans Eichel, the German finance minister was now - President of the Deutsche Bundesbank and thus succeeds Hans Tietmeyer. In this capacity, he represented the interests of the Bundesbank in the Council of the European Central Bank.

Adlon affair

In early April 2004, the news magazine Der Spiegel tax receipts of Dresdner Bank on the cost of notes of a visit to Berlin Weltekes the Berlin celebrations on the evening of the euro cash introduction. Shortly thereafter met three anonymous letters in a Federal Treasury, containing the supporting documents regarding the Adlon stay.

On April 5, 2004 Welteke announced its intention to pay the controversial nights in luxury Berlin Hotel Adlon itself. He acknowledged that his controversial stay at a hotel that led to " criticism and misunderstandings " in public. The 61 -year-old had been invited along with his wife, his son and his girlfriend of Dresdner Bank into a multi-day stay at the party at the Hotel Adlon. The cost amounted to over 7500 euros.

On April 6, the Frankfurt prosecutor's office initiated an investigation on suspicion of receiving bribes, from 7 April Welteke let rest on the recommendation of the Executive Board of the Bundesbank his offices. Interim Chairman, Jürgen Stark. He was succeeded by Axel A. Weber.

Resignation

April 16, 2004 Welteke resigned, bringing the so-called Adlon affair was a temporary end. The withdrawal was apparently brought about by ARD research, according to which the economist together with his wife in June 2003 at the invitation of BMW Group at the Formula 1 race in Monaco was followed and had only taken over the airfare itself. The group, which confirmed the information now, including the BMW Bank, had to carry on the Welteke as Bundesbank President supervision. After the ARD studio had asked on the morning of 16 April at the Bundesbank for its opinion, the bank gave the evening announced the resignation Weltekes.

New Activity

Welteke is still active as Chairman of the Investment Committee of the German Federal Environmental Foundation, as its Chairman of the Board he resigned after his resignation as president of the Bundesbank.

In June 2005 Welteke was an independent member of the Board of Directors of the Bank Centr -Invest in Rostov-on- Don. The South Russian Bank Centr -Invest was founded in 1992 and is located with assets of nearly ten billion rubles (nearly 290 million euros ) at No. 85 in Russia. The largest single shareholder is the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ( EBRD), which accounts for 20.4 to 25.2 percent according to different specifications.

Ernst Welteke is also since 2008 Board Member of Banco Kwanza Invest, an Angolan Investment Bank. It was founded by José Filomeno de Sousa dos Santos, a son of President José Eduardo dos Santos.

In August 2006 Welteke Chairman of the thesaurus AG, a consulting company founded in 2006 with headquarters in Cologne, which focuses as a public company on professional and industry-specific consulting services within the real estate industry.

In the summer of 2006, his 20 years younger wife Bettina Wieß parted from him.

In the context of asset disputes this separation Welteke was in December 2006, again in the public eye when he einklagte an increase of his pension before the Administrative Court of Frankfurt. Demanded of him instead awarded 8,000 euros monthly Welteke around 24,000 euros. In support, he cited, in the calculation of pension previous activities were not taken into account, among other things as a Member of Parliament and Minister sufficient. The court Welteke to a claim of around 12,500 euros a month, but noted in the aftermath, that there has been in determining the pension amount to a calculation error and Welteke have a claim of around 8,400 euros.

On appeal by Welteke the Hessian Administrative Court ( VGH ) has decided in Kassel on 24 June 2008 that receives a Welteke MPs pension for his 17 years as Member of Parliament from 4545 euros per month from the state of Hesse. A so-called superannuation benefits had been denied him by Hesse, because he get enough money from the Deutsche Bundesbank. Increasing the action Weltekes against the German Bundesbank, its local purchases from 8,550 to 15,247 euros per month, the VGH dismissed last instance. This gives the former Federal Reserve Chairman EUR 13,095 per month ( Az: 1 UE 319/ 07 and 2602/ 07). The additional payment will be retroactive from May 2004.