Gerhard Shreder Chancellor of Germany Date of Birth: 07.04.1944 Country: Germany

Biography of Gerhard Schröder

Gerhard Schröder, the former Chancellor of Germany, was born on April 7, 1944, in a poor Protestant family in the town of Mossenburg, Lower Saxony. His father died during the war, leaving behind five children who were raised by their mother, who worked as a cleaner. At the age of 14, Schröder had to leave school and work as a junior salesperson. Later, he enrolled at the University of Göttingen, where he studied law and graduated in 1976.

After completing his studies, Schröder worked as a lawyer and had his own private practice in Hannover from 1978 to 1990. He became an activist of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1963 and was elected as the leader of the party's youth section in 1978. In 1980, he was first elected to the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament.

Initially, Schröder aligned with the far-left wing of the SPD, but over time, his political views became more moderate. During the 1990s, he developed a more positive attitude towards the business community and served as a member of the supervisory board of Volkswagen. In 1986, Schröder became the leader of the SPD faction in the parliament of Lower Saxony and later worked in the party's central structure.

In 1990, when the SPD formed a coalition with the Green Party, Gerhard Schröder became the Minister-President of Lower Saxony and held this position until 1998. In April 2000, the SPD nominated Schröder as the candidate for the position of Chancellor of Germany. The SPD won the national elections on September 27, 2000, effectively ending the political career of Helmut Kohl, who had served as Chancellor for 16 years.

Gerhard Schröder is married to journalist Doris Kopf and has a daughter from a previous marriage.