Alfred Gomolka

Alfred Gomolka (21 July 1942 – 24 March 2020) was a German politician and member of the European Parliament for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He also served as the minister president of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Alfred Gomolka
Gomolka in 1990
Minister-President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
In office 27 October 1990 – 19 March 1992
Deputy	Klaus Gollert
Preceded by	Martin Brick (as Landesbevollmächtigter)
Succeeded by	Berndt Seite
Parliamentary constituencies Member of the European Parliament for Germany In office 19 July 1994 – 13 July 2009 Preceded by multi-member district Succeeded by multi-member district Member of the Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern for Greifswald In office 26 October 1990 – 15 November 1994 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Hans-Jürgen Zobel Member of the Volkskammer for Rostock In office 5 April 1990 – 2 October 1990 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	(1942-07-21)21 July 1942 Breslau, Province of Lower Silesia, Free State of Prussia, Nazi Germany (now Wrocław, Poland)
Died	24 March 2020(2020-03-24) (aged 77) Loitz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Political party	Christian Democratic Union (1990–2020)
Other political affiliations	Christian Democratic Union (East) (1960–1968; 1971–1990)
Children	4
Alma mater	University of Greifswald
Occupation	Politician Geographer Teacher

Personal life and death

Gomolka was born in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland).^[1] He had a PhD in geography.^[2] He was married and had four children.^[1] At one point, Gomolka attempted to set up a new radio station. However, he was unable to compete with Norddeutscher Rundfunk.^[2]

Gomolka died on 24 March 2020, aged 77.^[3]

Career

Gomolka was a member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU).^[3] He joined the CDU at a young age,^[2] though he was at times unhappy with the party's alliance with the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED).^[2][4] He served on the Greifswald City Council when the area was part of East Germany.^[2]

Following German reunification, he served as the first minister president^[a] of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern from October 1990 until 1992.^[3][4] In 1990, the CDU took 33 of the 66 seats in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state parliament, but was aided by one person transferring from the SED to the CDU and two MPs from the Free Democratic Party (FDP).^[5][6] In 1992, Gomolka was involved in the shipyard crisis,^[1][7] a disagreement between Gomolka and the German Minister for Transport and CDU regional party leader Günther Krause over shipyard policies.^[2] Gomolka had wanted to rebuild and then privatise German shipbuilding, whereas Krause wanted to immediately sell the shipyards.^[2] They also disagreed on how many ships to sell to Bremer Vulkan.^[8] Krause accused Gomolka of incompetence over his handling of the crisis.^[7] Krause then overturned Gomolka's shipyard policies.^[9] As a result of the crisis, the CDU lost trust in Gomolka, and he left his role as minister president of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.^[1] He remained as a state MP until 1994^[4][1] and was replaced by Berndt Seite as minister president.^[2] From November 1991 until March 1992, Gomolka also served as the president of the German Bundesrat, before being replaced by Berndt Seite.^[10][11]

From 1994 until 2009, Gomolka was an MEP, representing the CDU.^[3][1] He focused upon improving relations with the Baltic states, and was an advocate for Latvia's entry into the European Union.^[1] He served as the chairman of the EU delegation to the EU-Latvia Joint Parliamentary Committee.^[12] After leaving the EU Parliament, he served as leader of the CDU Seniors' Union for northeast Germany until 2015.^[2]

Notes

1. Some sources say Prime Minister