Lübke, Heinrich

Lübke, Heinrich

 

Born Oct. 14, 1894, in Enkhausen; died Apr. 6, 1972, in Bonn. Governmental figure of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG).

Lübke was a prominent member of the Catholic Center Party during the Weimar Republic. In World War II (1939-45) he worked in the war industry. A member of the Christian Democratic Union from 1945, Lübke was minister of food, agriculture, and forestry of North Rhine-Westphalia Land from 1947 to 1952. A deputy to the Bundestag (1949-50, 1953-59), Lübke served as minister of food, agriculture, and forestry of the FRG from 1953 to 1959 and as president of the FRG from 1959 to 1969. Lübke supported the policy based on “positions of strength” with respect to the socialist countries and opposed recognition of the postwar frontiers in Europe.