Joachim Gauck
President of Germany from 2012 to 2017
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Key Takeaways
- Joachim Wilhelm Gauck ( German: [joˈʔaxɪm ˈɡaʊk] ; born 24 January 1940) is a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2012 to 2017.
- During the Peaceful Revolution in 1989, Gauck was a co-founder of the New Forum opposition movement in East Germany.
- He served as Federal Commissioner from 1990 to 2000, earning recognition for exposing the crimes of the communist secret police.
- After Wulff stepped down, Gauck was elected as president in the 2012 German presidential election.
- Gauck was a founding signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism and the Declaration on Crimes of Communism.
Joachim Wilhelm Gauck (German: [joˈʔaxɪm ˈɡaʊk] ; born 24 January 1940) is a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2012 to 2017. A former Lutheran pastor, he came to prominence as an anti-communist civil rights activist in East Germany.
During the Peaceful Revolution in 1989, Gauck was a co-founder of the New Forum opposition movement in East Germany. Following German reunification, he was elected as a member of the Bundestag in 1990 but served for only one day before becoming the first Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records. He served as Federal Commissioner from 1990 to 2000, earning recognition for exposing the crimes of the communist secret police.
Gauck was nominated as a candidate in the 2010 presidential election but, despite his popularity, lost in the third ballot to Christian Wulff. After Wulff stepped down, Gauck was elected as president in the 2012 German presidential election. A son of a survivor of a Soviet Gulag, Gauck's political life was formed by his own family's experiences with totalitarianism. Gauck was a founding signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism and the Declaration on Crimes of Communism. He has called for increased awareness of Communist crimes and delegitimising Communist rule in East Germany.
He is also the author and co-author of several books, including The Black Book of Communism and Freedom: A Plea (2012). He has received numerous honours, including the 1997 Hannah Arendt Prize.
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