Erich Ollenhauer
| Erich Ollenhauer | |
|---|---|
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| Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany | |
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In office 1952–1963 |
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| Preceded by | Kurt Schumacher |
| Succeeded by | Willy Brandt |
| President of the Socialist International | |
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In office 1963–1963 |
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| Preceded by | Alsing Andersen |
| Succeeded by | Bruno Pittermann |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 March 1901 Magdeburg |
| Died | 14 December 1963 (aged 62) Bonn |
| Political party | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
Erich Ollenhauer (27 March 1901 – 14 December 1963) was the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1952–1963.
Ollenhauer was born in Magdeburg and joined the SPD in 1920. When the Nazis took power in 1933 he fled Germany for Prague. After the outbreak of WW2 Ollenhauer travelled across Europe in order to avoid Nazi persecution, first going to Denmark, then France, Spain, Portugal, and eventually London, where he remained until the end of the war. In London, he kept close ties to the Labour Party, which financially supported the expatriate SPD (called SoPaDe), of which Ollenhauer was a member. He also worked with the Union of German Socialist Organisations in Great Britain.
In February 1946, Ollenhauer returned to Germany. In May the same year, he was voted deputy leader of the SPD, behind Kurt Schumacher. Ollenhauer entered the Bundestag after the 1949 German federal elections.
After Schumacher's unexpected death in 1952, the SPD elected Ollenhauer as its leader. He ran as the SPD's candidate for Chancellor of Germany in the 1953 and 1957 German elections, both of which were lost to Konrad Adenauer's CDU.
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