Joachim Gauck President of Germany Date of Birth: 24.01.1940 Country: Germany

Joachim Gauck - President of Germany

Joachim Gauck is a German politician who has served as the President of Germany since March 18, 2012. He was born into a family with a strong maritime background, and his father was a naval officer. After the end of World War II, his father was captured and held as a prisoner of war by the British. Gauck's father returned to Rostock in 1946 and worked as a labor protection inspector at a shipyard.

Early Life and Education
Joachim Gauck was born on January 24, 1940, in Rostock, Germany. His mother was a skilled office worker and his father joined the Nazi Party in 1934. Gauck grew up with a strong anti-communist sentiment due to his father's arrest and imprisonment on charges of espionage and anti-Soviet propaganda. This experience influenced his political views and led him to reject joining the pro-communist Free German Youth.

Career in the Church and Opposition Movement
Gauck initially wanted to become a journalist but was unable to study journalism due to his anti-communist views. Instead, he became a Protestant pastor in Mecklenburg. His work in the church was hindered by the hostile regime, and he became a target of surveillance by the East German Ministry for State Security (Stasi). The Stasi characterized him as an "unreformed anti-communist."

In 1982, Gauck became the leader of the church council in Mecklenburg. In 1989, he joined the New Forum, a democratic opposition movement, and played a prominent role in anti-government demonstrations. He was elected as a member of the People's Chamber of the GDR in the free elections held on March 18, 1990, representing the Alliance 90 opposition coalition. On October 2, 1990, he was appointed as the special commissioner for handling the archives of the Stasi. He held this position until 2000.

Later Years and Presidential Candidacy
Gauck's name was frequently mentioned as a potential candidate for the Bundestag elections, representing various political parties. In 1998, he contributed an additional chapter on the German Democratic Republic to the German edition of "The Black Book of Communism." He also co-initiated the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism in 2008 and signed the Declaration on Crimes of Communism in 2010.

Gauck currently leads the organization "Gegen Vergessen - Fuer Demokratie" (Against Forgetting - For Democracy), which fights against left- and right-wing extremism and promotes democratic values and historical truth regarding Germany's totalitarian regimes.

On February 20, 2012, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that Gauck had been chosen as the joint candidate of the parliamentary parties for the position of federal president. He was elected as the President of Germany on March 18, 2012, receiving 991 out of 1232 votes. Gauck has been awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as honorary doctorates from the University of Rostock and the University of Jena.

Personal Life
Gauck has four children from his marriage, three of whom moved to West Germany in the 1980s. Although he and his wife separated in 1991, they never officially divorced. Since 2000, Gauck has been in a relationship with Bavarian journalist Daniela Schadt.

Throughout his career, Gauck has gained respect from politicians across the political spectrum for his unwavering commitment to freedom, democracy, and justice. He is highly regarded for his role as a "Stasi hunter" in the 1990s and his moral stance during the communist dictatorship.