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Erinnerungen
Willy Brandt war ein deutsches Schicksal dieses Jahrhunderts, keine bloße Politikerkarriere. In seinen Erinnerungen lebt er fort. Die sieben Kapitel erfassen die Stationen seines Lebens -- Jugendjahre, Emigration und Heimkehr nach Deutschland, Machtkämpfe und Kanzlerschaft, Ostpolitik, die schwere Zeit nach dem Abschied von der Macht, Nord-Süd-Dialog -- und stellen ein personalisiertes Kompendium der Zeitgeschichte dar.
Fast gespenstisch wirkt heute schon die Schilderung vieler Vorgänge und Episoden des Kalten Krieges, an denen er beteiligt war. Man lese nur die Beschreibung seines Besuchs in Erfurt und das Zusammentreffen mit dem steifen Willy Stoph, dem Vorsitzenden des Ministerrats der DDR, der sich auch im persönlichen Gespräch nur im Verlautbarungsstil äußern wollte, konnte oder durfte und die Mauer tatsächlich "einen Akt der Menschlichkeit" nannte. Brandt schloß des Buch im Frühjahr 1989 ab, zu einem Zeitpunkt als er politisch keine Rücksichten mehr zu nehmen brauchte. Während der Drucklegung im November 1989 konnte er darin noch eine vorsichtig formulierte Nachschrift über die gerade ablaufende Wende in der DDR unterbringen. Ihr Titel: "Nichts wird, wie es war".
Brandt analysiert sich, sein Wirken, seine Wirkung, seine Zeitgenossen, seine Zeit mit scharfem Blick, doch voller Sensibilität und Menschlichkeit. Er ist nie verletzend, wiewohl Adenauer ihm mit dem unsäglichen "Brandt alias Frahm", das auf seine uneheliche Geburt und unfreiwillige Emigration anspielte, selbst zutiefst verletzt hatte und er dem BND in die Guillaume-Falle gelaufen war. Für das handliche Taschenbuch sollte sich in jeder Bibliothek noch Platz finden. --Friedrich Geiss
557 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
About the author
Willy Brandt
102 books9 followersWilly Brandt (born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm) was a German politician, Chancellor of West Germany 1969–1974, and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1964–1987.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 11, 2020
Sometimes history gets it right. Lyndon Johnson was the man best prepared to assume the presidency after the JFK assassination. Louis Armstrong was born at the right time in the right place. Nelson Mandela was a timely embodiment of history. And Willy Brandt proved over and over again—as mayor of West Berlin when the Wall went up, as foreign minister, as chancellor, as a national and international party leader—that he was the right person at the right time. His autobiography reveals man with a deep understanding of his political convictions and a statesman with a clear vision of humanity and how to use the intricacies of policy to serve it.
While Brandt was not the most eloquent of writers or speakers, his core principles and works were articulate, none more so than “Socialism without democracy is absurd and wouldn’t even function (Sozialismus ohne Demokratie is widersinnig und funktioniert nicht einmal.).” For Brandt, democracy was not a throw-away line. He revered it. He was an unapologetic social democrat who understood that Germany was more than a Cold War pawn. Under his influence and leadership Germany became an integral player in world affairs. He also led a number of domestic initiatives to open up the education system, improve social welfare services, and stabilize public pensions—all issues for which he never received credit, which is because his three most memorable, lasting contributions to the world were associated with international affairs.
The first was his leadership as West Berlin’s mayor while it was the center of the Cold War conflict, especially with the building of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961. He is one of the few mayors in world history who not only had a global stature, but also conducted a foreign policy. As foreign minister and chancellor his policy of Ostpolitik—interestingly, a term he disliked—destroyed the Hallstein Doctrine, a post-WWII West German policy that did not recognize the existence and legitimacy of East Germany, to engage with the nations behind the Iron Curtain. It also was integral in establishing West Germany as a world power to be reckoned with; it was no longer the defeated Hitler state. His substantive and symbolic acts, such as the famous Kniefall in Warsaw to repent for the sins of Nazi Germany, helped pave the way for the eventual fall of the Berlin Wall and the hegemony of the Soviet bloc. Even his one of his harshest critics of the early 1970s, Helmut Kohl, admitted after the fall of the Wall that Brandt was right with his long view of history and that the Christian Democrats who excoriated him were wrong.
But his most important and least understood contribution to the world today came after the end of his short chancellorship. As the leader of the German Social Democratic Party and the Socialist International he influenced leaders in Europe and participated in commissions that paved the way for a unified Europe. Like most of the leaders of the German anti-Nazi resistance, he visualized a post-WWII world in which Germany would be integrated into and help lead a unified Europe. Initially it was less a matter of economics than of building mutual bonds to eliminate the possibility of future conflicts. Brandt recognized over the years, however, that economics were essential to creating an environment of peaceful stability.
There are a few things missing. Except for two glancing observations, you wouldn’t know that Brandt was ever married, had children or had any kind of personal life. There is no settling of scores with personalities he encountered in his life. It contains no stories about the bitter political disagreements he had with Bavarian conservative Franz Josef Strauß. His account of Guillaume scandal that brought down his chancellorship seems a bit antiseptic, especially since there is no acknowledgement of the role the potential unmasking of his marital infidelity played in his final decision. Nor is he big on background narrative: one must have a knowledge of mid-to-late 20th century history to fully appreciate his recollections. It helped that I had read Peter Merseburger’s biography and an excellent account of his first meeting in Erfurt with the East German president. Both filled in gaps Brandt chose to leave out or obscure. Brandt downplays his personal feelings in favor of describing the events in which he was a participant.
I think Brandt had two audiences in mind when he wrote his memoirs. The first were historians, especially those focused on post-WWII and Cold War diplomacy. The second, and surely most important to him, were young people—especially those in Europe and young social democrats throughout the world. Coincidentally, shortly after I finished this book, we all got to observe the debacle of a foreign trip taken by the occupant of the White House starting in 2017. As Angela Merkel noted, Europe and the rest of the world could not count on the U.S. and that nations like Germany would have to take more responsibility for their own affairs and forge new alliances, I wonder if she realized how much of debt she had to the life and works of Willy Brandt.
While Brandt was not the most eloquent of writers or speakers, his core principles and works were articulate, none more so than “Socialism without democracy is absurd and wouldn’t even function (Sozialismus ohne Demokratie is widersinnig und funktioniert nicht einmal.).” For Brandt, democracy was not a throw-away line. He revered it. He was an unapologetic social democrat who understood that Germany was more than a Cold War pawn. Under his influence and leadership Germany became an integral player in world affairs. He also led a number of domestic initiatives to open up the education system, improve social welfare services, and stabilize public pensions—all issues for which he never received credit, which is because his three most memorable, lasting contributions to the world were associated with international affairs.
The first was his leadership as West Berlin’s mayor while it was the center of the Cold War conflict, especially with the building of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961. He is one of the few mayors in world history who not only had a global stature, but also conducted a foreign policy. As foreign minister and chancellor his policy of Ostpolitik—interestingly, a term he disliked—destroyed the Hallstein Doctrine, a post-WWII West German policy that did not recognize the existence and legitimacy of East Germany, to engage with the nations behind the Iron Curtain. It also was integral in establishing West Germany as a world power to be reckoned with; it was no longer the defeated Hitler state. His substantive and symbolic acts, such as the famous Kniefall in Warsaw to repent for the sins of Nazi Germany, helped pave the way for the eventual fall of the Berlin Wall and the hegemony of the Soviet bloc. Even his one of his harshest critics of the early 1970s, Helmut Kohl, admitted after the fall of the Wall that Brandt was right with his long view of history and that the Christian Democrats who excoriated him were wrong.
But his most important and least understood contribution to the world today came after the end of his short chancellorship. As the leader of the German Social Democratic Party and the Socialist International he influenced leaders in Europe and participated in commissions that paved the way for a unified Europe. Like most of the leaders of the German anti-Nazi resistance, he visualized a post-WWII world in which Germany would be integrated into and help lead a unified Europe. Initially it was less a matter of economics than of building mutual bonds to eliminate the possibility of future conflicts. Brandt recognized over the years, however, that economics were essential to creating an environment of peaceful stability.
There are a few things missing. Except for two glancing observations, you wouldn’t know that Brandt was ever married, had children or had any kind of personal life. There is no settling of scores with personalities he encountered in his life. It contains no stories about the bitter political disagreements he had with Bavarian conservative Franz Josef Strauß. His account of Guillaume scandal that brought down his chancellorship seems a bit antiseptic, especially since there is no acknowledgement of the role the potential unmasking of his marital infidelity played in his final decision. Nor is he big on background narrative: one must have a knowledge of mid-to-late 20th century history to fully appreciate his recollections. It helped that I had read Peter Merseburger’s biography and an excellent account of his first meeting in Erfurt with the East German president. Both filled in gaps Brandt chose to leave out or obscure. Brandt downplays his personal feelings in favor of describing the events in which he was a participant.
I think Brandt had two audiences in mind when he wrote his memoirs. The first were historians, especially those focused on post-WWII and Cold War diplomacy. The second, and surely most important to him, were young people—especially those in Europe and young social democrats throughout the world. Coincidentally, shortly after I finished this book, we all got to observe the debacle of a foreign trip taken by the occupant of the White House starting in 2017. As Angela Merkel noted, Europe and the rest of the world could not count on the U.S. and that nations like Germany would have to take more responsibility for their own affairs and forge new alliances, I wonder if she realized how much of debt she had to the life and works of Willy Brandt.
November 9, 2020
Nach einem guten Dreivierteljahr habe ich endlich diesen Wälzer bezwungen. Und ja, ich bin zugegebenermaßen ein wenig stolz darauf.
Die Memoiren von Willy Brandt umfassen sein gesamtes politisches Werken, über sein Privatleben wird dafür kaum ein Wort verloren. Wer also hofft, Persönliches zu erfahren, sollte lieber zu anderen Biografien des Altkanzlers greifen. Emotionen wird man in diesem Buch nicht finden.
An sich gibt das Buch einen guten Überblick über (West-)Deutschland vom zweiten Weltkrieg bis zum Mauerfall, allerdings geht Brandt nicht chronologisch vor, sondern hat seine Erinnerungen eher nach Themengebieten geordnet, deshalb fiel es mir schwer, bei den vielen Zeit- und Ortswechseln den Überblick zu behalten. Dabei war auch hinderlich, dass mir viele seiner Politikerkollegen völlig fremd waren, vor allem diejenigen aus dem Ausland.
Trotzdem kann ich mir gut vorstellen, in der Zukunft hin und wieder dieses Buch zur Hand zu nehmen, um im Stichwortverzeichnis nach bestimmten Themen und Personen zu suchen und anschließend die einschlägigen Passagen erneut zu lesen. Einfach um die Sicht eines Zeitzeugen kennenzulernen.
Empfehlen würde ich die Autobiografie insgesamt nur denjenigen, die sich sehr für den Politker Willy Brandt interessieren oder bereits über ein breites Wissen über das zwanzigste Jahrhundert verfügen und einen Zeitzeugenbericht suchen.
Die Memoiren von Willy Brandt umfassen sein gesamtes politisches Werken, über sein Privatleben wird dafür kaum ein Wort verloren. Wer also hofft, Persönliches zu erfahren, sollte lieber zu anderen Biografien des Altkanzlers greifen. Emotionen wird man in diesem Buch nicht finden.
An sich gibt das Buch einen guten Überblick über (West-)Deutschland vom zweiten Weltkrieg bis zum Mauerfall, allerdings geht Brandt nicht chronologisch vor, sondern hat seine Erinnerungen eher nach Themengebieten geordnet, deshalb fiel es mir schwer, bei den vielen Zeit- und Ortswechseln den Überblick zu behalten. Dabei war auch hinderlich, dass mir viele seiner Politikerkollegen völlig fremd waren, vor allem diejenigen aus dem Ausland.
Trotzdem kann ich mir gut vorstellen, in der Zukunft hin und wieder dieses Buch zur Hand zu nehmen, um im Stichwortverzeichnis nach bestimmten Themen und Personen zu suchen und anschließend die einschlägigen Passagen erneut zu lesen. Einfach um die Sicht eines Zeitzeugen kennenzulernen.
Empfehlen würde ich die Autobiografie insgesamt nur denjenigen, die sich sehr für den Politker Willy Brandt interessieren oder bereits über ein breites Wissen über das zwanzigste Jahrhundert verfügen und einen Zeitzeugenbericht suchen.
February 21, 2015
Drei Jahre vor seinem Tod (1992) legte Willy Brandt seine Memoiren vor, in denen er seinen persönlichen und politischen Werdegang nachzeichnet.
Die Autobiographie gestaltet sich sehr langatmig und überfordert manchmal den Leser. Im Hinblick auf die selbsterlebte, eigene Vergangenheit (geboren 1944) ist die Betrachtungsweise des Autors sehr interessant. Persönliche Informationen über die Probleme mit dem Familienleben (z.B. der Scheidung von Ruth Brandt) fehlen völlig. Als Beispiel beschreibt dies ganz anders (persönlicher) Salman Rushdíe in seiner Autobiographie, die ich kürzlich in deutscher Sprache gelesen habe. Joseph Anton: A Memoir
Die Autobiographie gestaltet sich sehr langatmig und überfordert manchmal den Leser. Im Hinblick auf die selbsterlebte, eigene Vergangenheit (geboren 1944) ist die Betrachtungsweise des Autors sehr interessant. Persönliche Informationen über die Probleme mit dem Familienleben (z.B. der Scheidung von Ruth Brandt) fehlen völlig. Als Beispiel beschreibt dies ganz anders (persönlicher) Salman Rushdíe in seiner Autobiographie, die ich kürzlich in deutscher Sprache gelesen habe. Joseph Anton: A Memoir
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February 1, 2021Ich habe dieses Buch nicht zu Ende gelesen, weil es im Moment nicht in meine Zeit passt.
Daher keine Bewertung.
Daher keine Bewertung.
February 1, 2021
A world leader who I have admired for decades, this is further proof of his greatness. He managed to document and justify every moment of his significant career in massive detail. The way in which it is laid out underlines his how conscience and professionalism functioned at all times of his substantial career, concurrently.
Doing so in hindsight with Erinnerungen, he seemed to have been aware of what many would have been curious about (and many probably still are), such as Konrad Adenauer, and the spy in the office of his chancellorship, Gunther Guillaume.
Doing so in hindsight with Erinnerungen, he seemed to have been aware of what many would have been curious about (and many probably still are), such as Konrad Adenauer, and the spy in the office of his chancellorship, Gunther Guillaume.
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