Wolfgang Gerhardt

Wolfgang Gerhardt
Wolfgang Gerhardt
Member of Bundestag
	In office; 1994 – December 2013
Constituency	Hessen list (no. 01)
Chairman of the FDP
	In office; 1995–2001
Preceded by	Klaus Kinkel
Succeeded by	Guido Westerwelle
Personal details
Born	31 December 1943 (age 80); Ulrichstein, People's State of Hesse, Nazi Germany
Political party	German:; Free Democratic Party; EU:; Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe

Wolfgang Gerhardt (born 31 December 1943) is a German politician and was the leader of the FDP from 1995 until he was succeeded by Guido Westerwelle in 2001.^[1]

Political career

Gerhardt was born in Ulrichstein. He was a member of the Member of the Landtag of Hesse from 1978 until 1994. Between 1987 and 1991, he served as State Minister for Science and Culture and Deputy Minister-President in the state government of Minister-President Walter Wallmann of Hesse. In this capacity, he was one of the state's representatives on the Bundesrat.

From 2002 until 2012, Gerhardt was Vice President of Liberal International (LI), under the leadership of successive presidents Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck (2002-2005), John Alderdice (2005-2009), and Hans van Baalen (2009-2011).

Ahead of the 2005 national elections, Gerhard was billed as a possible foreign minister in a new centre-right coalition with the Christian Democrats; instead, newly elected Chancellor Angela Merkel entered a coalition with the Social Democratic Party.^[2] Gerhardt was succeeded as chairman of the FDP parliamentary group by Westerwelle in 2006. Between 2006 and 2013, he served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Since 2006, Gerhardt has been serving as chairman of the board of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.

Other activities

Corporate boards

Alte Leipziger Lebensversicherung aG, Member of the Advisory Board
Hallesche-Nationale Krankenversicherung aG, Member of the Advisory Board
Rücker AG, Member of the Supervisory Board
Deutsche Vermögensberatung (DVAG), Member of the Advisory Board (1995)^[3]

Non-profits

Theodor Heuss House, Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Member of the Board of Trustees^[4]
German Association for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (BVMW), Member of the Political Advisory Board
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Member of the Advisory Board
German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Member of the Council (2005-2013)
Turkey: Culture of Change Initiative (TCCI), Member of the Advisory Board^[5]