Lothar Späth
Lothar Späth ( born November 16, 1937 in Sigmaringen ) is a German politician ( CDU) and managers. From 1978 to 1991 he was Minister President of Baden -Württemberg.
Training
Lothar Späth was born on 16 November 1937 as the son of a business associate of a seed store in Sigmaringen. Two years after the birth Späth abandoned the strict Pietist family Sigmaringen and moved to Ilsfeld, where he attended elementary school. It was followed by the high school in Beilstein and the Gymnasium in Heilbronn, which he, however, left after the average maturity. Between 1953 and 1958 he was trained in the administrative service of the city Giengen and the District Office of Bad Mergentheim. 1958/1959 he attended the State School of Administration Stuttgart.
Public offices and political activities
From 1960 Späth worked in the financial management of the city Bietigheim. In 1965 he became Assistant Secretary and Finance Officer of the City, 1967, he was elected mayor there. From 1970 to 1974 he was managing director of the new home in Stuttgart and Hamburg, and until 1977 also on the board or supervisory board of the construction company C. Baresel AG in Stuttgart.
He was first elected as a deputy in the parliament in 1968. He became chairman of the CDU faction in the state parliament of Baden -Württemberg in 1972. After he had repeatedly offered to him by Prime Minister Filbinger otherwise ministerial posts, first knocked out, he was in 1978 appointed Minister of the Interior.
Following the resignation of Hans Filbinger because of the " Filbinger affair" Lothar Späth was elected on 30 August 1978 relating to the fifth Prime Minister of Baden- Württemberg. He could against the mayor of Stuttgart, Manfred Rommel, who also had ambitions to the ministry to enforce within the parliamentary party. From 1979 to 1991 he was state chairman of the CDU Baden -Württemberg, then honorary chairman, and from 1981 to 1989 Deputy National Chairman of the party. As scheduled, he served as Minister-President of Baden- Württemberg from 1 November 1984 to October 31, 1985 President of the Bundesrat.
Spaeth could defend each the absolute majority of the CDU in the state elections in 1980, 1984 and 1988, while the other parties stagnated. As prime minister, he pushed for the economic development of the country and received for the economic success the nickname " Top Contributor ". After Spaeth had been accused of taking advantage in holiday travel in connection with the " Love Boat " affair, he resigned on January 13, 1991 from his post as head of government back and put on 31 July 1991 and his mandate as member of parliament down. His successor as Prime Minister was the Baden-Württemberg CDU parliamentary leader Erwin Teufel. His seat in Parliament took over the mayor of Bietigheim- Bissingen Manfred List.
In the 2002 federal elections Spaeth served as Shadow Minister for Economic Affairs member of the shadow cabinet of Chancellor candidate Edmund Stoiber.
Private sector
Spaeth was in June 1991 CEO of Jenoptik GmbH in Jena ( legal successor of the VEB Carl Zeiss Jena) and added this on 16 June 1998 as CEO of the emerging stock company Jenoptik AG on the stock exchange. Jenoptik was thus one of the few examples in which a former industrial complex of the former GDR successfully maintained its position after the turn in the united Germany. Späth own work on the Board of Jenoptik AG ended in June 2003. To date, it is debatable whether the resignation from the position of CEO was voluntary or was done to forestall the detection of errors which he had to answer in the context of the IPO of Jenoptik AG. In April 1996, Spaeth was President of Industry and Commerce of Eastern Thuringia Gera. In 1997 he received the honorary citizenship of the city of Jena.
From 1997 to 2001 he hosted the weekly talk show Späth in the evening on n-tv. Since 2005, he moderated again an eponymous show, which airs monthly.
Späth holds an honorary professorship for media and time diagnostics at the Friedrich -Schiller- University Jena.
Since 2003 he is the editor of the annual book " TOP 100 - Germany's most innovative medium-sized " ".
In May 2005, he was CEO of the investment bank Merrill Lynch for Germany and Austria, he also was 2006-2007 Chairman of publishing group Georg von Holtzbrinck.
From July 2007 to April 2013 he was Chairman of the J & M Management Consulting AG, headquartered in Mannheim. From 1998 until September 2012 he was also Chairman of Herrenknecht AG.
Volunteering
Lothar Späth is founder of Lothar Späth - Prize. He is also a member of the jury for Entrepreneurs Entrepreneur of the Year since 2004. From 2008 to 2012, he was Chairman of the Trustees of the Memorial Foundation of Baden -Württemberg.
Since autumn 2009, Lothar Späth committed for the social project we help Africa for the Football World Cup 2010 in South Africa. He is godfather to his native town Sigmaringen.
Private
Lothar Späth is married with his estranged wife Ursula, a daughter Daniela and an adopted son, Peter.