Joachim Gauck

Joachim Wilhelm Gauck (German: [joˈʔaxɪm ˈɡaʊk] ⓘ; born 24 January 1940) is a German politician who served as <a href="/facts/President_of_Germany/alla2gvH">President of Germany</a> from 2012 to 2017. A former <a href="/facts/Lutheran/L4pMlRcS">Lutheran</a> pastor, he came to prominence as an <a href="/facts/Anti-communist/bJuolzxo">anti-communist</a> civil rights activist in <a href="/facts/East_Germany/PwI902Q6">East Germany</a>.
During the <a href="/facts/Peaceful_Revolution/NkepWzNw">Peaceful Revolution</a> in 1989, Gauck was a co-founder of the <a href="/facts/New_Forum/nEUpWRmH">New Forum</a> opposition movement in East Germany, which contributed to the downfall of the <a href="/facts/Socialist_Unity_Party_of_Germany/5pX4MKXz">Socialist Unity Party of Germany</a> (SED) and later with two other movements formed the electoral list <a href="/facts/Alliance_90/UcxnRMe3">Alliance 90</a>. In 1990, he was a member of the only freely elected East German <a href="/facts/People%2527s_Chamber/34xnYxII">People's Chamber</a> in the <a href="/facts/Alliance_90%2fThe_Greens/HJ8MNBnc">Alliance 90/The Greens</a> faction. Following <a href="/facts/German_reunification/1c7F6WoR">German reunification</a>, he was elected as a member of the <a href="/facts/Bundestag/RN6CPKa2">Bundestag</a> by the People's Chamber in 1990 but resigned after a single day having been chosen by the Bundestag to be the first <a href="/facts/Federal_Commissioner_for_the_Stasi_Records/MX8Gx6Wt">Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records</a>. This made him the Bundestag member with the shortest tenure. He also served as Federal Commissioner from 1990 to 2000, earning recognition as a "<a href="/facts/Stasi/jQ91taz4">Stasi</a> hunter" and "tireless pro-democracy advocate" for exposing the crimes of the communist secret police.
He was nominated as the candidate of the <a href="/facts/SPD/GyXlKgqJ">SPD</a> and <a href="/facts/Alliance_90%2fThe_Greens/HJ8MNBnc">the Greens</a> in the <a href="/facts/2010_German_presidential_election/UTF79F5K">2010 presidential election</a> but lost in the third ballot to <a href="/facts/Christian_Wulff/H92LQFDy">Christian Wulff</a>, the candidate of the government coalition. His candidacy was met by significant approval of the population and the media; <a href="/facts/Der_Spiegel/pjoz3IIF">Der Spiegel</a> described him as "the better President", while the <a href="/facts/Bild/Quva2xcv">Bild</a> called him "the president of hearts". Later, after Wulff stepped down, Gauck was elected as president with 991 of 1,228 votes in the <a href="/facts/Federal_Convention_(Germany)/CVzSM0w0">Federal Convention</a> in the <a href="/facts/2012_German_presidential_election/QUEFF7YL">2012 German presidential election</a>, as a <a href="/facts/Independent_politician/Pzzvg0CC">nonpartisan</a> consensus candidate of the <a href="/facts/Christian_Democratic_Union_of_Germany/xJxhhtUr">CDU</a>, the <a href="/facts/Christian_Social_Union_in_Bavaria/h7KTTmK4">CSU</a>, the <a href="/facts/Free_Democratic_Party_(Germany)/4HekM3Vw">FDP</a>, the SPD, and the Greens.
A son of a survivor of a Soviet <a href="/facts/Gulag/rGzKRYt3">Gulag</a>, Gauck's political life was formed by his own family's experiences with <a href="/facts/Totalitarianism/Txc6sJvM">totalitarianism</a>. Gauck was a founding signatory of the <a href="/facts/Prague_Declaration_on_European_Conscience_and_Communism/H4AG7Djc">Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism</a>, together with <a href="/facts/V%25C3%25A1clav_Havel/Wk6f6EAw">Václav Havel</a> and other statesmen, and of the <a href="/facts/Declaration_on_Crimes_of_Communism/1NUWvqJA">Declaration on Crimes of Communism</a>. He has called for increased awareness of <a href="/facts/Communist_crimes/1xGHaQ12">Communist crimes</a> in Europe, and for the necessity of delegitimizing the Communist era. As president, he was a proponent of "an enlightened anti-communism", and he has underlined the illegitimacy of Communist rule in East Germany. He is the author and co-author of several books, including <a href="/facts/The_Black_Book_of_Communism/3D0wA83G">The Black Book of Communism</a>. His 2012 book <a href="/facts/Freedom%3a_A_Plea/kVdcQBrH">Freedom: A Plea</a> calls for the defense of <a href="/facts/Liberty/fHvkBVSv">freedom</a> and <a href="/facts/Human_rights/WMW5XCdM">human rights</a> around the globe. He has been described by <a href="/facts/Angela_Merkel/n7jjpybM">Angela Merkel</a> as a "true teacher of democracy" and a "tireless advocate of freedom, democracy, and justice". <a href="/facts/The_Wall_Street_Journal/9Pkf2cYK">The Wall Street Journal</a> has described him as "the last of a breed: the leaders of protest movements behind the <a href="/facts/Iron_Curtain/V19wsHct">Iron Curtain</a> who went on to lead their countries after 1989". He has received numerous honours, including the 1997 <a href="/facts/Hannah_Arendt_Prize/zD5N6e7W">Hannah Arendt Prize</a>. In 2022, he criticized Germany's policies towards Russia in the period after the Cold War, and said that "we should have listened to the voices of our eastern neighbours – Poles and the Baltic states as well as our Atlantic friends" when they warned about Russian aggression.

Joachim Gauck open-in-new

Joachim Gauck