Date Posted:11:00:37 10/14/04 Thu Author: Chris Subject: Re: German Politics and Culture In reply to:
Shane
's message, "Re: German Politics and Culture" on 09:47:06 10/14/04 Thu
How about in Germany, who have been the great leaders of Germany since 1945?
In Germany, the chancellor is somewhat comparable to the US president. We also have a president, but he is a different person and has mainly a representative role. Most of our presidents were great people, but they cannot be considered leaders. Among our chancellors, I would mention Konrad Adenauer (christian conservative) as the first one, not only chronologically. The next great leader was Willy Brand (social democrat). Helmut Schmid's (social democrat) term of office was too short to count him among the great figures, but he was a great and intellectual man. His successor Helmut Kohl (christian conservative) was the contrary, not very intellectual. He was a confessing (Catholic) christian and would have been a great leader and historic figure (he was the chancellor of the unity) if not there had been the party-donations affair at the end of his career. So, he became rather a tragical figure of history. He also was too much of a power monger. Our current chancellor, Schroeder is not so bad as many believed, but he is certainly not a great leader.
Shane, is there a particular reason you are so interested in Germany and Europe?
