Kurt Beck
| Kurt Beck | |
|---|---|
Kurt Beck in 2011
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| Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany | |
|
In office 10 April 2006 – 7 September 2008 |
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| Preceded by | Matthias Platzeck |
| Succeeded by | Franz Müntefering |
| Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate | |
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In office 26 October 1994 – 15 January 2013 |
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| Preceded by | Rudolf Scharping |
| Succeeded by | Malu Dreyer |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
5 February 1949 Bad Bergzabern, Germany |
| Nationality |
German 
|
| Political party | SPD |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Kurt Beck (born 5 February 1949) is a German politician (SPD), who served as the 7th Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1994 to 2013 and as the 55th President of the Bundesrat in 2000/01. On 14 May 2006 he succeeded Matthias Platzeck as chairman of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD). He resigned from that post on 7 September 2008.
On 28 September 2012 he announced his resignation from the post of minister-president. He was succeeded by social minister Malu Dreyer.
Following Peter Struck's death in 2012, Kurt Beck together with Dieter Schulte took chair of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
Beck was born in Bad Bergzabern, Rhineland-Palatinate, to the bricklayer Oskar Beck and his wife Johanna. Both his parents had their roots in the town Kapsweyer in southern Rhenish Palatinate. He grew up in Steinfeld.
From 1963 to 1968, he became an electrician. After military duty in 1968 and 1969, he graduated from an evening school in 1972. Since then, he served as an employee representative on works councils.
Beck is Catholic. He lives with his wife, Roswitha, whom he married in 1968 in Steinfeld, Rhineland-Palatinate. They have one son (Stefan Beck).
After joining the SPD in 1972, mainly because of the Party's programme as well as the personality of Willy Brandt, Beck became chairman of the SPD of Rhineland Palatinate in 1993 and deputy chairman of the federal party in 2003. He served in this function until 14 May 2006, when Matthias Platzeck had to resign for medical reasons and Beck was officially elected as chairman of the SPD with the approval of 95% of the delegates. According to public opinion polls during his time as party chairman, Beck's possibilities of becoming Bundeskanzler, if he had run for this office in the 2009 election, had been very limited. According to Süddeutsche Zeitung, only 16% of Germans would have elected him in the hypothetical case of a direct vote against Angela Merkel. On 7 September 2008, Beck resigned as chairman at a party meeting in Werder, Brandenburg and Frank-Walter Steinmeier was chosen as the SPD candidate for Chancellor in the 2009 election, while Franz Müntefering replaced Beck as chairman after an interim of Steinmeier. Beck said that he was a victim of intrigue inside the SPD.
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