Ludwig Erhard

Ludwig Erhard
Chancellor of Germany (West Germany)
In office 17 October 1963 – 30 November 1966
President	Heinrich Lübke
Vice Chancellor	Erich Mende
Preceded by	Konrad Adenauer
Succeeded by	Kurt Georg Kiesinger
Leader of Christian Democratic Union
In office 23 March 1966 – 23 May 1967
Preceded by	Konrad Adenauer
Succeeded by	Kurt Georg Kiesinger
Vice Chancellor of Germany
In office 29 October 1957 – 15 October 1963
Chancellor	Konrad Adenauer
Preceded by	Franz Blücher
Succeeded by	Erich Mende
Ministry of Economy and Energy
In office 20 September 1949 – 15 October 1963
Chancellor	Konrad Adenauer
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Kurt Schmücker
Member of the Bundestag for Baden-Württemberg
In office 13 December 1972 – 5 May 1977
Preceded by	multi-member distinct
Succeeded by	Paula Riede
Member of the Bundestag for Ulm
In office 7 September 1949 – 13 December 1972
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Herbert Werner
Personal details
Born	Ludwig Wilhelm Erhard (1897-02-04)4 February 1897 Fürth, Bavaria, German Empire
Died	(1977-05-05)5 May 1977 Bonn, West Germany
Resting place	Gmund am Tegernsee
Political party	Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Spouse(s)	Luise Schuster (1923-1975)
Children	1
Alma mater	Goethe University Frankfurt
Military career
Allegiance	German Empire
Branch	Luftstreitkräfte
Years of service	1916-1919
Rank	Unteroffizier
Unit	22nd Royal Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment
Battles / wars	First World War Eastern Front Romanian Campaingn Western Front Fifth Battle of Ypres

Ludwig Wilhelm Erhard (4 February 1897 in Fürth – 5 May 1977 in Bonn) was a German politician.

Life

Erhard was born as the son of a salesman. After his middle school exam, he started training to become a salesman himself. He was wounded as soldier in World War I. After World War I, he started to study micro economy at a college in Nuremberg.

After that, he studied economy on the University of Frankfurt am Main. In 1925 he finished his doctoral thesis. Afterwards, he worked in his father's company. After the Great Depression, the company went bankrupt. From 1928 to 1942, he worked as science assistant, but he could not get a promotion because he did not want to become a member of a Nazi organisation. From 1942 to 1945, he was the head of the institute for industrial research.

Until 1949, he worked for the CDU, but joined still in 1963. From 1945 to 1946, he worked for the provisional government of Bavaria, afterwards he was an economic organisation official for the British-American administration in West Germany.

In 1949, he became Minister of Economics under Konrad Adenauer. From 1957-1963, he was Vice Chancellor. After Adenauer resigned in 1963, Erhard became the new chancellor. In 1966, Kurt Georg Kiesinger succeeded him.

Erhard died in 1977, aged 80.