Willy Brandt

Political life

His political career started in 1948. He became a representative for the SPD in the Bundestag for a district of Berlin. He was member of the state parliament of Berlin from 1950 until 1971.

He became president of the Parliament of Berlin (1955) and Mayor of Berlin (1957). Willy Brandt started to campaign for the position as Chancellor (Bundeskanzler) for the Social Democrats (SPD) in 1961. In 1966, he became Vice-Chancellor of the "Grand Coalition" of SPD and the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) under Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger. He started the social-liberal coalition between the SPD and the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP). Willy Brandt became Chancellor in 1969.

He made many changes in several political areas. For example:

Societal policies

• The right to vote at the age of 18 was introduced.

• Efforts to remove the inferior status of women were made.

• More rights at work for employees were granted through a new Works Constitution Act.

• A modernization of the criminal law was carried out. The criminal law was also made more humane.

• Laws against homosexuality were relaxed.

• Environmental protection laws were introduced.

• Censorship was relaxed.

Educational policies

• Fees were eliminated while new higher education institutions were established.

• The number of scholarships was increased.

• An Educational Support Law was introduced in 1971 that provided grants to students from lower income groups.

• The school leaving age was raised to 16. This allowed for 10 years of compulsory schooling.

Housing policies

• New housing legislation was introduced that improved protection for tenants and procedures for rent control.

• A new Housing Benefit was introduced, aimed at providing better economic security for low-income tenants.

• A long-term housebuilding programme was launched in 1971.

Health and welfare policies

• The costs of preventive measures were added to the obligations of sickness funds.

• An expansion of social assistance was carried out.

• Legislation on hospital building, according to one study, “established a new system of joint funding of capital programmes according to explicit planning criteria.”

• A Pension Reform Act was introduced in 1972 which, according to one study, “made the rights to a pension less dependent on past financial contributions.”

• A flexible retirement age as introduced.

• Dynamic state pensions for war victims were introduced.

• Low pensions were improved through “the employment of a notional minimum wage in the calculation procedure” according to one study.

• The retirement age was reduced to 63 in 1973.

• Health and Accident Insurance was made more effective.

• More people became entitled to child benefit.

• Unemployment and family allowances were increased.

Agricultural policies

• Various forms of assistance were provided to farmers. These included soft loans, high-quality seeds, financial grants and subsidies.

• Old age assistance for farmers was improved.

• Water management and cultural building measures for peasants were strengthened.

• Health insurance for farmers was introduced.

• Sewage treatment measures were adopted to protect plantings.

• Agricultural information and advice was increased.

Military policies

• The position of non-commissioned officers was improved.

• Volunteers were attracted through measures such as improving barracks life.

• Measures were carried out to provide officers with an academic education.

• Conscription was reduced to 18 months.

Foreign policies

• The New Eastern Politics of Western Germany.

He travelled to East Germany, Warsaw and Moscow to improve relationships. His acceptance the Oder-Neisse Line and many of controversies in the Parliament and society followed.

In 1971, he got the Nobel Peace Prize for his politics.

In 1972, Rainer Barzel of the CDU believed he could end the Brandt administration, but he failed to win the vote of no-confidence. Brandt was re-elected to a second term later that year. In 1974, Günther Guillaume who worked in Brandt's office was discovered to be a spy. Brandt resigned and Helmut Schmidt became chancellor.

Brandt stayed leader of the SPD, and later of the Socialist International too. He was member of the European Parliament from 1978 to 1983. He gave up the position as chief of the SPD in 1987. Willy Brandt died of colon cancer at his home in Unkel, a town on the River Rhine, on 8 October 1992, at the age of 78. He was given a state funeral and was buried at the cemetery at Zehlendorf in Berlin.