Günter Rexrodt

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Early life and education

After the Abitur in 1960 in Arnstadt, Thuringia and an extra year in West Berlin,<ref>Brandon Mitchener (2 February 1993), Germany Wants a Rexrodt Miracle International Herald Tribune.</ref> Rexrodt graduated with a Diplom in business studies from the Free University Berlin where he also received his doctorate ("Dr. rer. pol") in 1971.

Career in the public sector

From 1968 to 1979 Rexroth worked for the chamber of commerce in Berlin. From 1979 to 1982 he worked as a ressort manager at "Office for Economy of the Federal State of Berlin".

In 1980, Rexrodt became a member of the FDP. From 1983 to 1987 – under the leadership of Walter Rasch – as well as from 1989 to 1994 – under Carola von Braun – he served as the alternate chair of the party in Berlin.

From 1982 to 1985 Rexrodt served as the State Secretary in the State Administration for Economic Affairs under Elmar Pieroth. From 1985 to 1989 he was the State Minister (Senator) for Economic Affairs of the federal state of Berlin, which was led by Governing Mayor Eberhard Diepgen.

Career in the private sector

From April 1989 Rexrodt worked for Citibank in New York City and from January 1990 to August 1991 he was a member of the board of directors at Citibank's Germany business, based in Frankfurt.

Already in September 1991, Rexrodt moved to the Treuhand in Germany, where he was a member of the board of directors until January 1993. Reportedly, Chancellor Kohl personally phoned John S. Reed, chairman of Citibank in New York, to ask that Rexrodt be let out of his contract to assume a seat on the board of the Treuhandanstalt.<ref>Brandon Mitchener (2 February 1993), Germany Wants a Rexrodt Miracle International Herald Tribune.</ref> During his time at the Treuhandanstalt, he was in charge of privatizing Eastern Germany's textiles and agricultural sectors.<ref>Brandon Mitchener (2 February 1993), Germany Wants a Rexrodt Miracle International Herald Tribune.</ref> He also disposed of the property of the former Socialist Unity Party of Germany, including publishers and real estate interests.<ref>Brandon Mitchener (2 February 1993), Germany Wants a Rexrodt Miracle International Herald Tribune.</ref>

Return to politics

Career in national politics

From 1991 Rexrodt was a member of the FDP national leadership under the party's chair Otto Graf Lambsdorff. That same year, he was Lambsdorff's nominee to succeed Helmut Haussmann as Federal Minister for Economic Affairs; however, he eventually lost an internal vote against Jürgen Möllemann.<ref>FDP: Einen Kopf kürzer Der Spiegel, 20 January 1991.</ref><ref>Craig R. Whitney (9 January 1993), East German Native Is Expected to Be Bonn's New Economics Chief New York Times.</ref>

From the 1994 elections, Rexrodt was a member of the German Bundestag. He was returned to the Bundestag from the Berlin list.

Minister for Economic Affairs, 1993–1998

On January 21, 1993, Rexrodt was appointed as Federal Minister for Economic Affairs by Chancellor Helmut Kohl, after the resignation of his predecessor Jürgen Möllemann.<ref>Craig R. Whitney (9 January 1993), East German Native Is Expected to Be Bonn's New Economics Chief New York Times.</ref><ref>German economics minister leaves for Washington talks United Press International, 4 April 1993.</ref> The appointment was made following a nomination submitted by the FDP; the Free Democratic members of Parliament and the entire national leadership picked him by secret ballot, with 57 out of 97 votes cast.<ref>Craig R. Whitney (9 January 1993), East German Native Is Expected to Be Bonn's New Economics Chief New York Times.</ref>

During his time in office, Rexrodt was considered far less influential in formulating economic policy than Minister of Finance Theo Waigel.<ref>Ferdinand Protzman (11 August 1993), View of German Upturn Is Met With Skepticism New York Times.</ref> In 1995, he was rumoured to be replaced amid a cabinet reshuffle but ended up keeping his position due to internal infighting within the FDP.<ref>Karin Nink (7 December 1995), Gerüchte, Entscheidungen und eine Fahne Die Tageszeitung.</ref><ref>Ralf Neubauer (17 January 1997), Sein Rollenfach: Minister auf Abruf Die Welt.</ref>

Under Rexrodt's leadership, the government liberalized Germany's highly regulated shop hours in 1996, permitting stores to remain open later, until 8 P.M. on weekdays and part of Saturday afternoons.<ref>Alan Cowell (19 May 1996), Germany's Anguish: History, Identity and Shopping New York Times.</ref><ref>German shops may stay open later United Press International, 26 October 1995.</ref>

Also in 1996, Rexrodt resisted U.S. diplomatic efforts to enlist Germany's help in pursuing democratic reform in Cuba, arguing that the Helms–Burton Act's threat of extraterritorial sanctions against non-U.S. firms were the wrong way to promote democratization.<ref>Peter Bild (11 September 1996), Germany cool toward U.S. Cuba sanctions United Press International.</ref>

In 1997, Rexrodt – jointly with the European Commission – convened government ministers from about 30 European nations and business leaders for the Bonn Conference on Global Information Networks to define a common strategy for fostering electronic commerce in Europe.<ref>Bruno Giussani (9 July 1997), Design of Europe's E-Commerce Plan Takes Shape New York Times.</ref>

After the 1998 national elections, Rexrodt joined the Budget Committee and became his parliamentary group's spokesperson on the annual budget.

Return to state politics

From 2000 to 2004, Rexrodt served as chairman of the FDP in Berlin. In Berlin's 2001 state elections, he was the lead candidate of the FDP. Under his leadership, the FDP returned to the State Parliament with a final voting result of 9.9%. When negotiations over a coalition government with the Social Democrats and Alliance 90/The Greens failed,<ref>Koalitionsverhandlungen: Der FDP-Chef wartet einfach ab Der Tagesspiegel, 5 December 2001.</ref> he resigned his seat in the State Parliament after only two months in early 2002.<ref>Berlin: Rexrodt verlässt das Berliner Parlament Der Tagesspiegel, 22 January 2002.</ref>

From 2001, Rexrodt served as the federal treasurer of the FDP under the leadership of chairman Guido Westerwelle.<ref>FDP: Rexrodt wird neuer Schatzmeister Der Tagesspiegel, 29 April 2001.</ref> In this capacity, he was later involved in the investigation of the "flyer affair" surrounding Möllemann.<ref>Arne Delfs (22 January 2004), Liberales Stehaufmännchen: Schatzmeister Günter Rexrodt Die Welt.</ref>

In 2003, Rexrodt announced his intention to resign as chair of the FDP in Berlin the following year.<ref>Was macht eigentlich ...Günter Rexrodt? Die Tageszeitung, 7 April 2003.</ref> In 2004, he failed to win sufficient support for his plan to lead his party's Berlin campaign for the national elections again.<ref>Werner van Bebber (4 February 2004), FDP-Spitze: Ein Tandem überholt Günter Rexrodt Der Tagesspiegel.</ref>

Other activities

Corporate boards

Non-profit organizations

Personal life

Rexrodt's father Wilhelm was managing director of the German Democratic Party until 1933. Wilhelm was after 1945 the co-founder of the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany.

Rexrodt was married to Ingrid Hoyermann and had a son from that marriage.

During an official trip to South Africa and Zimbabwe in 1996, Rexrodt was infected with malaria<ref>Dicker Tropfen Der Spiegel, 9 June 1996.</ref> and spent three weeks in a coma.<ref>Arne Delfs (22 January 2004), Liberales Stehaufmännchen: Schatzmeister Günter Rexrodt Die Welt.</ref> In May 2004 he had to undergo a complicated surgery for cancer on the neck and died shortly after from cardiac arrest.

References

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