Heinz J. H. Ruhnau
 Heinz J. H. Ruhnau    (politician) | ||||||||||||||
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| Born | 5 March 1929 Danzig | |||||||||||||
| Died | 7 July 2020 (Age 91) Bonn, Germany | |||||||||||||
| Nationality | German | |||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Academy for Public Economy in Hamburg | |||||||||||||
| Party | Social Democratic Party of Germany | |||||||||||||
Social Democrat politician and co-founder of the right-wing internal grouping Seeheimer Kreis. Attended Bilderberg 1991 as outgoing Chairman of Lufthansa.
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Heinz Ruhnau was a German trade unionist, Social Democratic politician and co-founder of the right-wing internal party grouping Seeheimer Kreis. He attended Bilderberg 1991 as outgoing Chairman of the mostly government owned airline company Deutsche Lufthansa A.G.[1]
Early career
After an apprenticeship as an electrical machine builder near Bonn, Ruhnau was the youngest chairman of the works council in the electrical industry in Germany at the age of 21 from 1950. He completed his studies at the Academy for Public Economy in Hamburg. In 1956, Ruhnau became secretary of collective bargaining in the district management of IG Metall in Hamburg, where he organized the major strike by metalworkers in Schleswig-Holstein for continued payment of wages in the event of illness. In 1959 he became district manager of the IG Metall Coast, having previously been personal advisor to the IG Metall chairman Otto Brenner.[1]
Political career
Heinz Ruhnau was deputy SPD state chairman in Hamburg from 1966 to 1974. From 1961 to 1974 he was a member of the Hamburg Parliament and from 1963 to 1965 he was chairman of the internal committee there. From December 15, 1965 to September 30, 1973, Ruhnau was Senator President of the Hamburg Ministry of the Interior.[1]
In 1973/74 he was Labor Director at the Hamburg co-op AG headquarters, and from 1974 to 1982 he was State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Transport.[1]
From 1982 to1991 he was CEO of the largely state-owned Deutsche Lufthansa AG. In this position, he was instrumental in driving the company's expansion into Asia, particularly China and Russia. From 1991 to 1996 he was on the supervisory board of Berlin Brandenburg Flughafen Holding GmbH. In this function, he was significantly involved in the development of the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BBI) in Berlin and in the settlement of Lufthansa Technik in Berlin-Schoenefeld. His vision of building the BBI Airport in Sperenberg failed because of the opposition from Transport Minister [Matthias Wissmann]] the then Governing Mayor Diepgen, both CDU. From 1996 to 2003 he was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the airport Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG in Leipzig. He pushed through extensive modernization and the construction of a new southern runway parallel to the northern runway.[1]
Along with Hans-Jochen Vogel, Helmut Schmidt and Georg Leber, Heinz Ruhnau was one of the co-founders of the Godesberger wing in the SPD, a predecessor of the right-wing fraction Seeheimer Kreis that was formed in 1974.[1]
Ruhnau is a former honorary professor of transport at the Technical University of Dresden .
Heinz Ruhnau passed away on July 7, 2020 at the age of 91.
Event Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/1991 | 6 June 1991 | 9 June 1991 | Germany Baden-Baden Steigenberger Hotel Badischer Hof | The 39th Bilderberg, 114 guests |
