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Hans Katzer

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Hans Katzer
Katzer in 1981 at the 30th Federal Party Congress of the CDU
Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs
(West Germany)
In office
26 October 1965 (1965-10-26) – 29 October 1969 (1969-10-29)
ChancellorLudwig Erhard
Kurt Georg Kiesinger
Preceded byTheodor Blank
Succeeded byWalter Arendt
Member of the Bundestag
for Cologne III
In office
15 October 1957 (1957-10-15) – 4 November 1980 (1980-11-04)
Preceded byJohannes Albers
Succeeded byAenne Brauksiepe
Personal details
Born(1919-01-31)31 January 1919
Cologne, Free State of Prussia, German Reich
Died18 July 1996(1996-07-18) (aged 77)
Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Political partyChristian Democratic Union
Spouse Elisabeth Kaiser
​ ​(m. 1949)​
Children1
Military service
Allegiance Nazi Germany
Branch/service German Army
Years of service1939-1945
RankLeutnant

Hans Katzer (31 January 1919 – 18 July 1996) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs of West Germany from 1965 to 1969 under Ludwig Erhard and Kurt Georg Kiesinger. During his time as minister, he helped improve war victims' pensions and helped pass the Labour Promotion Act (Arbeitsförderungsgesetz, AFG) in 1969, which was meant to upskill workers, push a more active labour market policy, and create the Federal Institute of Labour. It was replaced in 1997 with the Third Book of the Social Code upon the implementation of the Employment Promotion Reform Act.

He was also a Member of the Bundestag for Cologne III from 1957 to 1980.

Early life

Political career

Member of Bundestag

Minister for Labour and Social Affairs

His plans during the start of his ministry largely corresponded with the ideas of the SPD, which included higher child benefit subsidies, an investment wage for employees, and more codetermination. He helped pass the Savings Premium Act and the issuance of shares to the general public at a discounted rate. He also helped improve war victims' pensions.

In 1967, he threatened to resign alongside Gerhard Schröder if his budget was cut. That same year unemployment reached a record high in the within the last decade, and he said it was a "decisive goal" of his administration's policy. Unemployment would remain a huge issue during his time as minister, as endangered areas like the Saarland and the Bavarian Forest had significantly higher rates of unemployment. Prior to his term, miners were referred to the Ruhr for work, but they would later not move and layoff figures rose.

In 1969 Katzer started pushing the Labour Promotion Act, which introduced a more active labour market policy in an attempt to fight unemployment and inferior employment. In addition, it created the Federal Institute of Labour to oversee this push and to upskill workers. The act was praised across the spectrum of parties after the preceding crisis of unemployment in 1967. After the 1969 West German federal election, he and his followers who were generally considered leftists, attempted to ally with SPD in an attempt to push his social policy but they were rejected by Helmut Schmidt.

Later political work

Katzer headed the Jakob Kaiser Foundation, and in this role pushed for German reunification. Starting in 1980 he also helped lead the German chapter of the European Union of Christian Democratic Workers alongside Alfred Bertrand.

Personal life

Katzer's grave at Melaten cemetery

In 1949 he married Elisabeth Kaiser, whom he would remain with and have one daughter. Their daughter, Marietheres Kreuz-Katzer, is a sociologist who has repeatedly decried the rise of the the rise of the far-right in Germany. His father-in-law was Jakob Kaiser, who was the Federal Minister of All-German Affairs, and Katzer inherited much of his estate after Kaiser's death.

Death

Katzer died on 18 July 1996 in Cologne, Germany. He had earlier had problems requiring gastrointestinal surgery. Helmut Kohl, then chancellor of Germany, honoured him by calling him one of the most "outstanding personalities", and then Mayor of Cologne, Norbert Burger, called him "one of the first architects of our state".

Honours and awards

On 19 January 1973, he was awarded the Grand Cross with Star and Sash on behalf of then President of West Germany, Gustav Heinemann. In 1987 he was awarded the Hans Böckler Prize, which was organized by the German Trade Union Confederation, and in 1988 he received the Ludger Westrick Prize. In 1989 he was awarded with the Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia by Johannes Rau.

Notes

  1. Also referred to as the Employment Promotion Act.

References

  1. "Germany". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  2. ^ "HANS KATZER". Der Spiegel (in German). 1 October 1963. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  3. Fink, Ulf (1989). Hans Katzer, Partnerschaft statt Klassenkampf (in German). Verlag Styria. p. 79. ISBN 978-3-7990-5549-9. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  4. Bundesparteitag CDU (in German). Die Union. 1976. p. 50. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  5. "Fate of Kiesinger regime depends on economics moves". Jefferson City News And Tribune Newspaper. Associated Press. 9 July 1967.
  6. "West Germans Promised Jobs". Albuquerque Tribune Newspaper. Associated Press. 2 January 1967.
  7. ^ "Katzers Parole: Schulung". Die Zeit (in German). 5 January 1968. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  8. Pühringer, Stephan; Griesser, Markus (19 October 2020). "From the 'planning euphoria' to the 'bitter economic truth': the transmission of economic ideas into German labour market policies in the 1960s and 2000s". Critical Discourse Studies. 5: 476–493. doi:10.1080/17405904.2019.1681283. ISSN 1740-5904. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  9. Bonoli, Giuliano (1 December 2010). "The Political Economy of Active Labor-Market Policy". Politics & Society. 38 (4): 435–457. doi:10.1177/0032329210381235. ISSN 0032-3292. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  10. Griesser, Markus (1 May 2018). "Images and imaginaries of unemployed people: Discursive shifts in the transition from active to activating labour market policies in Germany". Critical Social Policy. 38 (2): 387–406. doi:10.1177/0261018317727481. ISSN 0261-0183. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  11. "Bißchen Siegen". Der Spiegel (in German). 21 September 1969. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  12. Kreuz-Katzer, Marietheres; Röttgen, Norbert (18 July 2011). "Hans Katzer – Erfinder der Sozialpartnerschaft". Rhienische Post (in German). Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  13. Jansen, Thomas; Van Hecke, Steven (2011). "Chapter Ten: Working Groups and Member Associations". At Europe's Service: The Origins and Evolution of the European People's Party. Springer. pp. 173–185. ISBN 978-3-642-19414-6. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  14. The International Who's who 1983-84. Europa Publication. 1983. p. 693. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  15. Degener, August Ludwig; Habel, Walter (1987). Wer ist wer? (in German). Schmidt Römhild. p. 661. ISBN 978-3-7950-2007-1. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  16. Simpson, Victor (14 November 2024). "Families of Nazi SS hostages held as bargaining chips in WWII say lessons from the war still resonate". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  17. "Appell: 280 Nachkommen der Widerstandskämpfer in der NS-Zeit rufen zum Schutz der Demokratie auf". blankenese.de (in German). 6 February 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  18. "Hans Katzer". Der Spiegel (in German). 10 June 1984. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  19. ^ "GESTORBEN Hans Katzer". DER SPIEGEL. 22 July 1996. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  20. "Bonn, den 18. Juli 1996". www.kas.de. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  21. "Köln, 19. Juli 1996". www.kas.de. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  22. "Verleihungsurkunde - 1973". www.kas.de. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  23. "Personen". www.bundeskanzler-helmut-kohl.de (in German). Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  24. "Verleihungsurkunde - 1989". www.kas.de. Retrieved 4 January 2025.

See also

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