Heiner Geißler (3 March 1930 – 12 September 2017) was a German politician with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, a federal minister from 1982 to 1985.

Career

Born Heinrichjosef Georg Geißler in Gleisweiler, he studied law and philosophy in Munich and Tübingen, where he graduated in 1960.

From 1967 to June 1977, he was minister of the state government of Rhineland-Palatine, serving prime ministers Peter Altmeier, Helmut Kohl and Bernhard Vogel. From 1982 to 1985 Geißler was federal minister, heading the Bundesministerium für Jugend, Familie und Gesundheit (youth, family, and health) for chancellor Kohl. From 1977 to 1989, he was Secretrary General (Generalsekretär) of the CDU.

From being a conservative right-winger until the early 1990s, Geißler became increasingly leftist in his views as far as social policy and globalization are concerned. In 2007, he announced he had become a member of the attac network. This happened weeks before the 2007 G8 summit, which Germany, holding the 2007 G8 presidency, was hosting. Geißler himself said that his joining of attac had to be seen in the context of the upcoming G8 summit.

Geißler was married and had three children. Since 1980 he lived in Gleisweiler. He died on 12 September 2017, aged 87.