Bundesfinanzminister a.D. Hans Eichel

After studying German, history, sociology, and philosophy in Marburg and Berlin, Hans Eichel began his career as a high school teacher. In 1964, he joined the Social Democratic Party (SPD), and eleven years later, at the age of 33, he became the youngest full-time mayor of a major German city in Kassel. As mayor of Kassel, he intensively promoted youth education, equal opportunities for women, and the integration of foreigners—later throughout Hesse. His policies had a strong ecological focus. In 1991, Hans Eichel was elected Minister-President of Hesse in the Wiesbaden state parliament with a red-green majority. Under Gerhard Schröder, Eichel became German Federal Finance Minister in 1999. His term in office was characterized by his comprehensive tax reform. Hans Eichel was also very active on the European and international stage. During his term as Federal Minister, he initiated the G20 in Berlin as a dialogue forum for the finance ministers and central bank governors of the twenty largest industrialized and emerging countries. In 2005, Hans Eichel left the federal government but remained a member of the Bundestag for another four years. Since 2009, he has served as head of the Political Club of the Evangelical Academy Tutzing and head of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation's Working Group on Sustainable Structural Policy.