The former Federal Minister of Health Anke Fuchs is dead. The SPD politician died on Monday after a long illness at the age of 82 years in Wilhelmshaven.
The German Tenants' Association (DMB) praised its former president as a committed fighter for a socially just housing and rent policy. The SPD-affiliated Friedrich Ebert Foundation also recalled the merits of their honorary chairmen, who had enjoyed high recognition across party lines.
The Social Democrats, the Hamburg woman had joined before graduating in 1956. After a career as a consultant for labor law and social policy at the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) and at the IG Metall Fuchs worked from 1977 as State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Labor.
Minister of Health under Helmut Schmidt
The two-time mother made the ascent to minister in 1982. Chancellor Helmut Schmidt appointed her to the department for youth, family and health in April. However, their term of office lasted only a few months, because in October 1982 the social-liberal coalition broke up.
After that, Fuchs initially had little political luck. Several attempts on top offices failed: The Lower Saxon SPD offered her in 1993 the top candidate for the state election - but Fuchs declined, as it was clear a lead for Gerhard Schröder. In 1990 she appeared in the state election in Saxony against Kurt Biedenkopf (CDU), whose party ultimately prevailed by an absolute majority.
From 1998 to 2002, Fuchs was Vice President of the German Bundestag, from 2003 to 2010 she headed the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
"A Social Democrat through and through"
Bundestag vice-chairman Thomas Oppermann (SPD) praised Fuchs as a "committed social politician".
The Saxon SPD state chairman Martin Dulig said: "We are grateful to Anke for everything she has launched for us as Social Democrats, but also for the people of Saxony and Germany." "With her tireless struggle for equality between women and men, with her uncomfortable but charming nature, she has always made sure that those who could not raise their voices themselves were heard," continued Dulig. Fuchs was "a Social Democrat through and through, we will miss".
The current DMB President Lukas Siebenkotten said in Berlin on the death of Anke Fuchs, this had been an "important voice of the tenant organization", which "has made a lasting impact on the housing and rent policy in Germany". The association loses now a "dedicated fellow and fighter for a socially just housing and rent policy".
