Klaus Kinkel
| Klaus Kinkel | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Vice Chancellor of Germany | |
|
In office 21 January 1993 – 26 October 1998 |
|
| Preceded by | Jürgen Möllemann |
| Succeeded by | Joschka Fischer |
| Foreign Minister of Germany | |
|
In office 29 April 1992 – 26 October 1998 |
|
| Preceded by | Hans-Dietrich Genscher |
| Succeeded by | Joschka Fischer |
| Chairman of the FDP | |
|
In office 1993–1995 |
|
| Preceded by | Otto Graf Lambsdorff |
| Succeeded by | Wolfgang Gerhardt |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 17 December 1936 |
| Political party | FDP |
| Alma mater |
University of Tübingen University of Bonn University of Cologne |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Klaus Kinkel (born 17 December 1936) is a German civil servant, lawyer, and politician of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP). He served as Federal Minister of Justice (1991–1992), Foreign Minister (1992–1998) and as Vice Chancellor of Germany (1993–1998) in the government of Helmut Kohl. He was also chairman of the liberal Free Democratic Party from 1993 to 1995. Previously, he was President of the Federal Intelligence Service (1979–1982).
As Foreign Minister, Kinkel took a clear stance to end the atrocities committed during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, and proposed the creation of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
The son of a doctor, Kinkel was born in Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg, into a Catholic family. He took his Abitur at the Staatliches Gymnasium Hechingen and studied law at the universities of Tübingen, Bonn and Cologne. He joined A.V. Guestfalia Tübingen, a Catholic student fraternity that is member of the Cartellverband. Kinkel took his first juristic state exam at Tübingen, the second in Stuttgart and earned a doctorate of law in 1964.
Kinkel was first employed as a civil servant in the state of Baden-Württemberg, until he was employed at the Federal Ministry of the Interior in 1968. There, he was personal secretary for the Federal Minister, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, from 1970 to 1974, and eventually the head of the Minister's bureau. After Genscher was appointed Foreign Minister in 1974, Kinkel held senior positions in the Federal Foreign Office, as head of the Leitungsstab and the policy planning staff (Planungsstab).
...
Wikipedia