Difference between revisions of "Bruno Heck"

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{{person
 
{{person
|constitutes=politician
+
|constitutes=politician,spook
 
|wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Heck
 
|wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Heck
 
|description=Founder of the [[Konrad Adenauer Foundation]], member of [[Le Cercle]]
 
|description=Founder of the [[Konrad Adenauer Foundation]], member of [[Le Cercle]]
|birth_date=1917-01-20
+
|image=Bruno Heck.jpg
 +
|religion=Catholic
 +
|birth_date=January 20, 1917
 
|birth_place=Aalen, Germany
 
|birth_place=Aalen, Germany
|death_date=1989-09-16
+
|death_date=September 16, 1989
 
|death_place=Blaubeuren, Germany
 
|death_place=Blaubeuren, Germany
 
|alma_mater=University of Tubingen
 
|alma_mater=University of Tubingen
 
|nationality=German
 
|nationality=German
|political_parties=Christian Democratic Union of Germany, (CDU)
+
|political_parties=Christian Democratic Union of Germany
 
|employment={{job
 
|employment={{job
 
|title=Federal Minister of Family Affairs and Youth
 
|title=Federal Minister of Family Affairs and Youth
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|start=November 8, 1966
 
|start=November 8, 1966
 
|end=December 1, 1966
 
|end=December 1, 1966
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}}{{job
 +
|title=Konrad Adenauer Foundation/President
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|start=1968
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|end=1989
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|description=Participated in [[1973 Chile coup]]?
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}}{{job
 +
|title=CDU/Secretary-general
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|start=1967
 +
|end=1971
 +
|description=CIA liaison
 
}}{{job
 
}}{{job
 
|title=Konrad Adenauer Foundation/President
 
|title=Konrad Adenauer Foundation/President
 
|start=1955
 
|start=1955
 
|end=1958
 
|end=1958
}}{{job
+
|description=Former CIA liaison
|title=Konrad Adenauer Foundation/President
+
}}
|start=1968
 
|end=1989
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
'''Bruno Heck''' was a German politician of the [[Christian Democratic Union (Germany)|Christian Democratic Union]] (CDU), where he was [[CIA]] liaison. He became president of the [[Konrad Adenauer Foundation]], a front organization used for [[regime changes]], and attended [[Le Cercle]] in 1983.
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==Background==
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Heck was born into a poor [[Swabia]]n [[catholic]] family.<ref name=Zeitobit>[http://www.zeit.de/1989/39/Ein-konservativer-Moralist Ein konservativer Moralist], obituary in the German newspaper ''[[Die Zeit]]'' of September 22, 1989.</ref>  In [[1938]] he was called up for military service and then took part in the [[Second World War]] as a soldier of [[the Luftwaffe]] until [[1945]], his last rank was Oberleutnant.
  
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He studied [[philosophy]] and [[theology]] at the [[University of Tübingen]]. From 1957 to 1976 Heck was a member of the German [[Bundestag]].
  
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==Career==
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Heck had been a member of the CDU since 1946. From 1952 to 1958 he was the federal executive director of the CDU. In [[1955]], Heck was the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]'s main contact for the establishment of a joint program between the CDU and the CIA on [[psychological warfare]] in [[East Germany]].<ref>https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/GLOBKE,%20HANS_0087.pdf</ref>
  
}}
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From 1967 to 1971, he was the first to fill the newly created post of [[General Secretary of the CDU]]. Heck's greatest success as a party manager was the 1957 federal election, when the CDU/CSU achieved an absolute majority of votes (50.2%) for the first and only time (and as the only party in German democratic parliamentary history). Heck had previously studied American election campaign methods in the [[USA]]; in addition, the CDU leaders [[Konrad Adenauer]] and [[Ludwig Erhard]] were at the peak of their reputation.  
'''Bruno Heck''' (January 20, 1917 in [[Aalen]] - September 16, 1989 in [[Blaubeuren]]) was a German politician of the [[Christian Democratic Union (Germany)|Christian Democratic Union]] (CDU).
 
  
==Background==
+
For Heck, the outcome of the [[1969]] federal election represented the biggest defeat. Although the CDU/CSU with Chancellor [[Kurt Georg Kiesinger]], whose confidant was Heck, achieved the relative majority (46.1%) of the second votes and thus again became the strongest faction in [[the Bundestag]], the [[SPD]] entered into a coalition with 42.7% and the [[FDP]] (5.8%), so that the CDU had to go from the federal government to the opposition. Kiesinger lost the Federal Chancellery to [[Willy Brandt]] and in [[1971]] the term of office of the party chairman Kiesinger and his General secretary Heck had also come to an end.
Heck was born into a poor [[Swabia]]n [[catholic]] family.<ref name=Zeitobit>[http://www.zeit.de/1989/39/Ein-konservativer-Moralist Ein konservativer Moralist], obituary in the German newspaper ''[[Die Zeit]]'' of September 22, 1989.</ref> He studied [[philosophy]] and [[theology]] at the [[University of Tübingen]]. From 1957 to 1976 Heck was a member of the German [[Bundestag]].
 
  
==Career==
 
 
Heck was [[Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Germany)|Minister of Family Affairs and Youth]] from 1962 to 1968.<ref name=BMFSFJ>[http://www.bmfsfj.de/bmfsfj/generator/BMFSFJ/Ministerium/geschichte.html History of the Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.]</ref> After the resignation of the [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|FDP]] ministers in 1966, he additionally headed the [[Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs (Germany)|Ministry of Housing and Urban Development]] for a short time.
 
Heck was [[Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Germany)|Minister of Family Affairs and Youth]] from 1962 to 1968.<ref name=BMFSFJ>[http://www.bmfsfj.de/bmfsfj/generator/BMFSFJ/Ministerium/geschichte.html History of the Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.]</ref> After the resignation of the [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|FDP]] ministers in 1966, he additionally headed the [[Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs (Germany)|Ministry of Housing and Urban Development]] for a short time.
  
Heck headed the [[Konrad Adenauer Foundation]] from 1968 to 1989.<ref name=KAS>[http://www.kas.de/wf/de/71.3716/ History of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.]</ref> The Bruno Heck Science Prize, awarded biannually by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, was named in his honor.<ref name=KAS2>[http://www.kas.de/wf/de/71.3814/ Bruno Heck Science Prize] at the website of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.</ref>
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From 1968 to 1989, Heck headed the CDU-affiliated [[Konrad Adenauer Foundation]] (KAS) as chairman and greatly expanded its activities nationally and internationally.<ref name=KAS>[http://www.kas.de/wf/de/71.3716/ History of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.]</ref> He also had the new KAS headquarters built in Sankt Augustin near [[Bonn]]. As KAS chairman, Heck commented on the [[1968|'68 movement]]: "The rebellion of 1968 destroyed more values than the [[Third Reich]]. Overcoming them is therefore more important than overcoming [[Hitler]] one more time."<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20080120043948/http://www.blaetter.de/artikel.php?pr=2421</ref>
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==Chile 1973 coup==
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Shortly after [[the coup in Chile]], Heck traveled to Chile on behalf of the CDU to find out about the situation there. Heck was already well acquainted with the situation in the country through his many years of contacts with the [[Chilean Christian Democrats]]. Back in [[Germany]], during a press conference on October 17, [[1973]], he reported, among other things, on his visit to the [[Santiago Stadium]], which housed 5000 prisoners. He described the accommodation of the prisoners as "extremely poor". In contrast to the previous weeks, the prisoners could now move outdoors, which is certainly pleasant in sunny weather. However, in the rain and cold, the life of the prisoners was "unbearable and terrible".<ref>dpa Nr. 138/133 vom 17. Oktober 1973</ref> The following day, the ''[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]]'' quoted him as saying: "Life in the stadium is quite pleasant in sunny spring weather".<ref>Süddeutsche Zeitung, 18. Oktober 1973</ref> Heck was then accused of trivializing and supporting the coup and the [[Pinochet government]]. In a statement dated 4. In November 1973, Heck stated that his description of the conditions in the stadium had been turned into their opposite.<ref>Bundespresseamt – Wort zur Politik, 4. November 1973.</ref>
  
==Deep political connections==
 
He attended [[Le Cercle]] in 1983.
 
 
{{SMWDocs}}
 
{{SMWDocs}}
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
{{reflist}}
 
{{reflist}}

Latest revision as of 07:52, 10 December 2024

Person.png Bruno Heck  Rdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
(politician, spook)
Bruno Heck.jpg
BornJanuary 20, 1917
Aalen, Germany
DiedSeptember 16, 1989 (Age 72)
Blaubeuren, Germany
NationalityGerman
Alma materUniversity of Tubingen
ReligionCatholic
Founder ofKonrad Adenauer Foundation
Member ofLe Cercle
PartyChristian Democratic Union of Germany
Founder of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, member of Le Cercle

Employment.png Federal Minister of Family Affairs and Youth

In office
December 13, 1962 - October 1, 1968

Employment.png Federal Minister of Housing and Urban Development

In office
November 8, 1966 - December 1, 1966

Employment.png CDU/Secretary-general

In office
1967 - 1971
CIA liaison

Employment.png Konrad Adenauer Foundation/President

In office
1955 - 1958
Succeeded byArnold Bergstraesser
Former CIA liaison

Bruno Heck was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), where he was CIA liaison. He became president of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a front organization used for regime changes, and attended Le Cercle in 1983.

Background

Heck was born into a poor Swabian catholic family.[1] In 1938 he was called up for military service and then took part in the Second World War as a soldier of the Luftwaffe until 1945, his last rank was Oberleutnant.

He studied philosophy and theology at the University of Tübingen. From 1957 to 1976 Heck was a member of the German Bundestag.

Career

Heck had been a member of the CDU since 1946. From 1952 to 1958 he was the federal executive director of the CDU. In 1955, Heck was the Central Intelligence Agency's main contact for the establishment of a joint program between the CDU and the CIA on psychological warfare in East Germany.[2]

From 1967 to 1971, he was the first to fill the newly created post of General Secretary of the CDU. Heck's greatest success as a party manager was the 1957 federal election, when the CDU/CSU achieved an absolute majority of votes (50.2%) for the first and only time (and as the only party in German democratic parliamentary history). Heck had previously studied American election campaign methods in the USA; in addition, the CDU leaders Konrad Adenauer and Ludwig Erhard were at the peak of their reputation.

For Heck, the outcome of the 1969 federal election represented the biggest defeat. Although the CDU/CSU with Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger, whose confidant was Heck, achieved the relative majority (46.1%) of the second votes and thus again became the strongest faction in the Bundestag, the SPD entered into a coalition with 42.7% and the FDP (5.8%), so that the CDU had to go from the federal government to the opposition. Kiesinger lost the Federal Chancellery to Willy Brandt and in 1971 the term of office of the party chairman Kiesinger and his General secretary Heck had also come to an end.

Heck was Minister of Family Affairs and Youth from 1962 to 1968.[3] After the resignation of the FDP ministers in 1966, he additionally headed the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development for a short time.

From 1968 to 1989, Heck headed the CDU-affiliated Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) as chairman and greatly expanded its activities nationally and internationally.[4] He also had the new KAS headquarters built in Sankt Augustin near Bonn. As KAS chairman, Heck commented on the '68 movement: "The rebellion of 1968 destroyed more values than the Third Reich. Overcoming them is therefore more important than overcoming Hitler one more time."[5]

Chile 1973 coup

Shortly after the coup in Chile, Heck traveled to Chile on behalf of the CDU to find out about the situation there. Heck was already well acquainted with the situation in the country through his many years of contacts with the Chilean Christian Democrats. Back in Germany, during a press conference on October 17, 1973, he reported, among other things, on his visit to the Santiago Stadium, which housed 5000 prisoners. He described the accommodation of the prisoners as "extremely poor". In contrast to the previous weeks, the prisoners could now move outdoors, which is certainly pleasant in sunny weather. However, in the rain and cold, the life of the prisoners was "unbearable and terrible".[6] The following day, the Süddeutsche Zeitung quoted him as saying: "Life in the stadium is quite pleasant in sunny spring weather".[7] Heck was then accused of trivializing and supporting the coup and the Pinochet government. In a statement dated 4. In November 1973, Heck stated that his description of the conditions in the stadium had been turned into their opposite.[8]


 

Events Participated in

EventStartEndLocation(s)Description
Le Cercle/1982 (Wildbad Kreuth)11 June 198213 June 1982Germany
Hanns Seidel Foundation
1982 conference organised by Franz Josef Bach. The participants were guests of Franz-Josef Strauss. The first page of the attendee list was published online in 2011
Le Cercle/1983 (Bonn)30 June 19833 July 1983Germany
Bonn
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References