Karl Schiller

Karl Schiller
German Minister of Finace
In office 1971 – 1972
Preceded by	Alex Möller
Born	April 11 1911(1911-04-11) Breslau
Died	December 26 1994 (aged 83) Hamburg
Political party	Social Democratic Party of Germany
Occupation	Politican, Economist

Karl August Fritz Schiller (April 24, 1911 in Breslau - December 26, 1994 in Hamburg) was a German scientist and politician (SPD). From 1966 to 1972, he was Federal Minister of Economic Affairs and from 1971 to 1972 Federal Minister of Finance. He was the inventor of the magic square, depicting Economic equilibrium, and of the Concerted activity (Konzertierte Aktion) to reflate the German market. He is thus seen as one of the most important economists beside Ludwig Erhard.

Education and career

From 1931, after passing the Abitur, Schiller studied Economics and Law science at Kiel, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin and Heidelberg. In 1935, he finished his studies and got his Doctorate in Politics. From 1935 to 1941, he researched at the Institut für Weltwirtschaft in Kiel. In 1939, Schiller made his Habilitation. After taking part in World War II as a soldier from 1941 to 1945, Schiller became Professor at the University of Hamburg, where he became Principal from 1956 to 1958. In the meantime, from 1948 to 1966, he was a member of the scientific advisory board of the Federal Ministry for Economics.

Political career

Although he was a member of the NSDAP during World War II, Schiller became a member of the SPD in 1946. He stayed in the party to 1972 and again from 1980 on. From 1965 to 1972, he was a member of the Bundestag for the SPD, where he became assistant chairman of the SPD faction. From 1948 to 1953 Schiller was Senator for economy in Hamburg and held the same office again from 1961 to 1965 in Berlin serving under mayor Willy Brandt in his second term of office. From 1966 to 1972, he was Federal Minister of Economic Affairs in the Grand coalition under Bundeskanzler Kurt Georg Kiesinger. He worked together with Franz Josef Strauß, then Federal Minister of Finance, in the Concerted activity. In this time, they were known as Plisch und Plum after figures invented by Wilhelm Busch. In the first cabinet of Willy Brandt, Schiller was Federal Minister of Finance from 1971 to 1972 after the demission of Alex Möller. On July 7, 1972, Schiller demissioned, thus protesting against Brandts economic decisions. After stepping down, he soon left the SPD as well. In 1972, he participated together with Ludwig Erhard in a CDU campaign, whereby both acted as defenders of market economy.

Honours

In 1991, Schiller was honoured with the Großer Bundesverdienstorden.

External links

• Obituary in the New York Times: [1]
• Biography in German: [2]
• Dissertation about Karl Schiller from 2006 (in German): [3] and [4]

Notes

• This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding German Wikipedia article as of February 11, 2007.