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{{Short description|German politician (1936–2024)}}
{{Short description|German politician (1936–2024)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Hans Joachim Meyer
| name = Hans Joachim Meyer
| birth_name =
| birth_name =
| image = Hans Joachim Meyer cautiously sharpened.jpg
| image = Hans Joachim Meyer cautiously sharpened.jpg
| image_size =
| image_size =
| caption = Meyer in 2015
| caption = Meyer in 2015
| birth_date = {{birth date|1936|10|13|df=y}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1936|10|13|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Rostock]], [[Nazi Germany|Germany]]
| birth_place = [[Rostock]], [[Nazi Germany|Germany]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|3|29|1936|10|13|df=y}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|03|29|1936|10|13|df=y}}
| death_place =
| death_place = [[Potsdam]], Germany
| party = [[Christian Democratic Union (East Germany)|CDU (East Germany)]]<br />[[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|CDU]]
| party = [[Christian Democratic Union (East Germany)|CDU (East Germany)]] (1952–1961)<br />[[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|CDU]] (from 1990)
| alma_mater = [[Humboldt University of Berlin]]
| education = [[Humboldt University of Berlin]]
⚫
| occupation = {{ubl| Academic teacher | Minister of education }}
| known_for =
| organizations = {{ubl| [[Humboldt University of Berlin]] | [[De Maizière cabinet]] | Ministry of Culture in Saxony | [[Central Committee of German Catholics]] }}
⚫
| occupation = {{ubl| Academic teacher | Minister of education }}
| awards = {{ubl| [[Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]] | [[Order of Merit of the Free State of Saxony]] | [[Order of St. Gregory the Great]] }}
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}
}}


'''Hans Joachim Meyer''' (13 October 1936 – 29 March 2024) was a German politician ([[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|CDU]]). He served in the [[de Maizière cabinet]] as the last [[East Germany|East German]] Minister for Education and the Arts. After [[German reunification|reunification]] he became {{ill|Secretary of State for Sciences and the Arts|de|Sächsisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst}} in the regional government of [[Saxony]]. In addition, he served between 1997 and 2009 as President of the [[Central Committee of German Catholics]] (ZdK).
'''Hans Joachim Meyer''' (13 October 1936 – 29 March 2024) was a German linguist and [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|CDU]] politician. When [[East Germany]]'s authorities interrupted his law studies in [[Potsdam]] after six terms, he turned to English and American studies at the [[Humboldt University of Berlin]] where he then lectured and researched from 1964, with a [[habilitation]] in 1981, and as professor of applied linguistics from 1985 to 1990.

He served in the [[de Maizière cabinet|cabinet of Lothar de Maiziére]] as the last East German Minister for Education and the Arts. After [[German reunification]] he became {{ill|State Minister for Sciences and the Arts|de|Sächsisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst}} in the state government of [[Saxony]]. In addition, he served as President of the [[Central Committee of German Catholics]] (ZdK) from 1997 to 2009.


== Life and career ==
== Life and career ==
Hans Joachim Meyer was born in [[Rostock]].<ref name=HJMlautMunz>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.munzinger.de/search/portrait/Hans+Joachim+Meyer/0/19542.html |title= Hans-Joachim Meyer |encyclopedia=Munzinger-Archiv |access-date=1 April 2024 |language=de |date=2024}}</ref><ref name=HJMlautwww>{{cite web| title=Meyer, Hans-Joachim |url= https://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de/wer-war-wer-in-der-ddr-%2363;-1424.html?ID=2312 |last=Müller-Enbergs |first=Helmut | work=Wer war wer in der DDR? |publisher= Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin & Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur, Berlin |date=2009 |language=de |access-date=10 February 2018 |author-link = Helmut Müller-Enbergs}}</ref><ref name="Berlin-Brandenburgische2008">{{cite book |chapter=Verleihung der Leibniz-Medaille an Hans Joachim Meyer |last=Stock |first=Günter |title=Jahrbuch 2007 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t2IlbDnbd7sC&pg=PA132 |date=7 July 2008 |publisher=Georg Thieme Verlag |isbn=978-3-05-004436-1 |pages=132–135 |language=de }}</ref><ref name="Tschinger">{{cite book|last=Ischinger |first=Barbara |editor-last=Richards Graubard |editor-first=Stephen |chapter=Im Osten viel Neues: Plenty of news from the Eastern Lander |title=A New Europe for the Old? |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=omTot25fpkcC&pg=PA144 |publisher=Transaction Publishers| isbn=978-1-4128-1617-5 |pages=144–145 |date=1997}}</ref> His father ran a pharmacy, and his mother was a teacher.<ref name="Arens" /> He grew up, after [[End of World War II in Europe|1945]], in the [[Soviet occupation zone]] which became, [[Group of Soviet Forces in Germany|Soviet sponsored]], the [[German Democratic Republic]] (East Germany) in October 1949. After successfully completing school with the [[Abitur]] in Rostock he moved to the Berlin area. He studied law<ref name="Arens" /> at the {{ill|Deutsche Akademie für Staats- und Rechtswissenschaft der DDR|de}} in [[Potsdam]] between 1955 and 1958 but was excluded after six terms<ref name="Arens" /><ref name="Tschinger" /> before he could complete his degree because he "failed to connect with the working class" (''wegen "mangelnder Verbindung zur Arbeiterklasse"''). The real issue, he later told an interviewer, was his commitment to the [[Catholic Church]].<ref name=HJMlautGH>{{cite web |url= http://katholisch.de/aktuelles/aktuelle-artikel/christen-waren-keine-gleichberechtigten-burger |title=Christen waren keine gleichberechtigten Bürger |date=10 October 2016 |last= Höfling |first=Gabriele |website=katholisch.de |language=de |access-date=10 February 2018}}</ref> His decision while still at school to join the [[Christian Democratic Union (East Germany)|CDU]] back in 1952, at a time when the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|ruling party]] was engaged in a robust campaign to [[National Front (East Germany)|take control]] of rival political parties, will already have drawn him to the attention of the authorities as a potential dissident in the making. For the next year he worked as an "assistant" at the [[Orenstein & Koppel|VEB Lokomotivbau Potsdam-Babelsberg]], a nearby rail-locomotive plant. After that, resigning from the CDU in 1961,<ref name=HJMlautwww/> he was able to resume his university studies, now embarking on a course at the [[Humboldt University of Berlin]] of English and American studies and history.<ref name="Arens" /> His decision to select subjects regarded by the authorities as less political<ref name=HJMlautGH/> was vindicated; he was able to complete his course with a degree in 1964.<ref name=HJMlautMunz/> He remained at the university as a lecturer and senior research assistant between 1964 and 1982. He received his doctorate in 1971. His dissertation was, again, resolutely non-political: it comprised a semantic analysis of the modern English verb prefix "Up" when compared to related prefixes in English and German (''"Semantische Analyse der modernenglischen Verbalpartikel "up" im Vergleich zu verwandten englischen und deutschen Verbalpartikeln"'').<ref name="Meyer1970">{{cite book |last=Meyer |first=Hans Joachim |title=Semantische Analyse der modernenglischen Verbalpartikel "up" im Vergleich zu verwandten englischen und deutschen Verbalpartikeln |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AFTkmgEACAAJ |date=1970 |language=de }}</ref> Ten years later his [[habilitation]], received in 1981, could have opened the way to a lifelong university career, had events not intervened. He was assigned to the foreign languages section between 1973 and 1977, becoming deputy director for education and training. Between 1978 and 1990 he headed up the intensive languages training section at the university. He also held an appointment as Professor of Applied Linguistics from 1985 and 1990.<ref name="Tschinger" />
Hans Joachim Meyer was born on 13 October 1936 in [[Rostock]].<ref name=HJMlautMunz>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.munzinger.de/search/portrait/Hans+Joachim+Meyer/0/19542.html |title= Hans-Joachim Meyer |encyclopedia=Munzinger-Archiv |access-date=1 April 2024 |language=de |date=2024}}</ref><ref name="Aufarbeitung">{{cite web| title=Meyer, Hans-Joachim |url= https://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de/wer-war-wer-in-der-ddr-%2363;-1424.html?ID=2312 |last=Müller-Enbergs |first=Helmut | work=Wer war wer in der DDR? |publisher= Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin & Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur, Berlin |date=2024 |language=de |access-date=10 February 2018 |author-link = Helmut Müller-Enbergs}}</ref><ref name="Berlin-Brandenburgische2008">{{cite book |chapter=Verleihung der Leibniz-Medaille an Hans Joachim Meyer |last=Stock |first=Günter |title=Jahrbuch 2007 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t2IlbDnbd7sC&pg=PA132 |date=7 July 2008 |publisher=Georg Thieme Verlag |isbn=978-3-05-004436-1 |pages=132–135 |language=de }}</ref><ref name="Ischinger">{{cite book|last=Ischinger |first=Barbara |editor-last=Richards Graubard |editor-first=Stephen |chapter=Im Osten viel Neues: Plenty of news from the Eastern Lander |title=A New Europe for the Old? |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=omTot25fpkcC&pg=PA144 |publisher=Transaction Publishers| isbn=978-1-4128-1617-5 |pages=144–145 |date=1997}}</ref> His father ran a pharmacy, and his mother was a teacher.<ref name="Arens" /> He grew up in an area that [[End of World War II in Europe|after 1945]] was part of the [[Soviet occupation zone]] which became the [[German Democratic Republic]] (East Germany) in October 1949. After successfully completing school with the [[Abitur]] in Rostock he moved to the Berlin area. He studied law<ref name="Arens" /> at the {{ill|Deutsche Akademie für Staats- und Rechtswissenschaft der DDR|de}} in [[Potsdam]] between 1955 and 1958 but was excluded after six terms<ref name="Arens" /><ref name="Ischinger" /> before he could complete his degree because he "failed to connect with the working class" (''wegen "mangelnder Verbindung zur Arbeiterklasse"''). The real issue, he later told an interviewer, was his commitment to the [[Catholic Church]].<ref name=HJMlautGH>{{cite web |url= http://katholisch.de/aktuelles/aktuelle-artikel/christen-waren-keine-gleichberechtigten-burger |title=Christen waren keine gleichberechtigten Bürger |date=10 October 2016 |last= Höfling |first=Gabriele |website=katholisch.de |language=de |access-date=10 February 2018}}</ref> His decision while still at school to join the [[Christian Democratic Union (East Germany)|CDU]] back in 1952, at a time when the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|ruling party]] was engaged in a robust campaign to [[National Front (East Germany)|take control]] of rival political parties, would already have drawn him to the attention of the authorities as a potential dissident in the making. For the next year he worked as an "assistant" at the [[Orenstein & Koppel|VEB Lokomotivbau Potsdam-Babelsberg]], a nearby rail-locomotive plant. After that, resigning from the CDU in 1961,<ref name="Aufarbeitung" /> he was able to resume his university studies, now embarking on a course at the [[Humboldt University of Berlin]] in English and American studies and history.<ref name="Arens" /> His decision to select subjects regarded by the authorities as less political<ref name=HJMlautGH/> was vindicated; he was able to complete his course with a degree in 1964.<ref name=HJMlautMunz/> He remained at the university as a lecturer and senior research assistant between 1964 and 1982. He received his doctorate in 1971. His dissertation was, again, resolutely non-political: it comprised a semantic analysis of the modern English verb prefix "Up" when compared to related prefixes in English and German (''"Semantische Analyse der modernenglischen Verbalpartikel "up" im Vergleich zu verwandten englischen und deutschen Verbalpartikeln"'').<ref name="Meyer1970">{{cite book |last=Meyer |first=Hans Joachim |title=Semantische Analyse der modernenglischen Verbalpartikel "up" im Vergleich zu verwandten englischen und deutschen Verbalpartikeln |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AFTkmgEACAAJ |date=1970 |language=de }}</ref> Ten years later his [[habilitation]], received in 1981,<ref name="Aufarbeitung" /> could have opened the way to a lifelong university career, had events not intervened. He was assigned to the foreign languages section between 1973 and 1977, becoming deputy director for education and training. Between 1978 and 1990 he headed up the intensive languages training section at the university.<ref name="Aufarbeitung" /> He also held an appointment as Professor of Applied Linguistics from 1985 to 1990.<ref name="Aufarbeitung" /><ref name="Ischinger" />


During his academic career in [[East Berlin]] Meyer was engaged with [[Catholic Church in Germany]]. Between 1973 and 1975 he served as a member of the Dresden Pastoral Synod.<ref name="FAZ" /><ref name=HJMlautwww/><ref name=Laienraete>{{cite news |title=Die Stellung der Laienräte in den Beschlüssen der Gemeinsamen Synode in Würzburg |work=Vollversammlung des Katholikenrates im Bistum Regensburg |date = 10 December 2005 |language=de |last=Meyer |first=Hans Joachim }}</ref> Between 1976 and 1982 he worked with the Pastoral Council for the Bishopric of East Berlin.<ref name=HJMlautSF>{{cite news <!--|url= https://www.erzbistumberlin.de/medien/pressestelle/aktuelle-pressemeldungen/pressemeldung/datum/2017/08/30/hohe-paepstliche-auszeichnung-fuer-prof-dr-hans-joachim-meyer/--> |date=31 August 2017 |title=Hohe päpstliche Auszeichnung für Prof. Dr. Hans Joachim Meyer |publisher=Erzbischöfliches Ordinariat Berlin |last=Förner |first=Stefan |language=de <!--| access-date=12 February 2018--> }}</ref>
During his academic career in [[East Berlin]] Meyer was engaged with the [[Catholic Church in Germany]]. Between 1973 and 1975 he served as a member of the Dresden Pastoral Synod.<ref name="FAZ" /><ref name="Aufarbeitung" /><ref name=Laienraete>{{cite news |title=Die Stellung der Laienräte in den Beschlüssen der Gemeinsamen Synode in Würzburg |work=Vollversammlung des Katholikenrates im Bistum Regensburg |date = 10 December 2005 |language=de |last=Meyer |first=Hans Joachim }}</ref> Between 1976 and 1982 he worked with the Pastoral Council for the Bishopric of East Berlin.<ref name="Förner">{{cite news |url=https://www.erzbistumberlin.de/medien/pressestelle/aktuelle-pressemeldungen/pressemeldung/datum/2017/08/30/hohe-paepstliche-auszeichnung-fuer-prof-dr-hans-joachim-meyer/ |date=31 August 2017 |title=Hohe päpstliche Auszeichnung für Prof. Dr. Hans Joachim Meyer |publisher=Erzbischöfliches Ordinariat Berlin |last=Förner |first=Stefan |language=de |access-date=12 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213021915/https://www.erzbistumberlin.de/medien/pressestelle/aktuelle-pressemeldungen/pressemeldung/datum/2017/08/30/hohe-paepstliche-auszeichnung-fuer-prof-dr-hans-joachim-meyer/ |archive-date=13 February 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>


=== ''Wende'' ===
=== ''Wende'' ===
After the [[Peaceful Revolution]], the [[1990 East German general election]] was the country's first free and fair election. Shortly after, Meyer received and accepted an invitation to join the new government headed up by [[Lothar de Maizière]], despite not being a member of any political party, and despite not having stood for election to the [[Volkskammer]] national parliament.<ref name=HJMlautwww/> Between 12 April and 3 October 1990 Meyer served as the German Democratic Republic's last Minister for Minister for Education and the Arts.<ref name="FAZ" /><ref name=HJMuKultusministerkonferenz>{{cite web |date=13 April 1999 |last=Meyer |first=Hans Joachim |title=Perspektivrede des Präsidenten der Kultusministerkonferenz |work=Deutschen Bildungskongress |location=Bonn |url= https://www.kmk.org/aktuelles/artikelansicht/perspektivrede-des-praesidenten-der-kultusministerkonferenz-prof-dr-hans-joachim-meyersaechsischer-staatsminister-fuer-wissenschaft-und-kunst.html |publisher=Sekretariat der Ständigen Konferenz der Kultusminister der Länder in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland |language=de |access-date=12 February 2018}}</ref> His responsibilities included participation as leader of the East German delegation at the {{ill|Gemeinsame Bildungskommission|de}} between May and September 1990. The commission was mandated to adapt an education system that would be implemented across a unified Germany. The commission's output was summarized in the [[German reunification#German Reunification Treaty|Reunification Treaty]] (Articles 37 & 38) which came into force in October 1990 and was then implemented both at government level and on the ground.<ref name=Bildungssysteme>{{cite web |url=http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/pdf/deu/Chapter13_doc1.pdf |title=Band 10 Ein Deutschland in Europa 1989 – 2009 |date=26 September 1990 |publisher=German Historical Institute (GHI) |location=Washington, DC |language=de |access-date=12 February 2018}}</ref>
After the [[Peaceful Revolution]], the [[1990 East German general election]] was the country's first free and fair election. Shortly after, Meyer received and accepted an invitation to join the new government headed up by [[Lothar de Maizière]], despite not being a member of any political party, and despite not having stood for election to the [[Volkskammer]] national parliament.<ref name="Aufarbeitung" /> Between 12 April and 3 October 1990, Meyer served as the German Democratic Republic's last Minister for Education and the Arts.<ref name="FAZ" /><ref name=HJMuKultusministerkonferenz>{{cite web |date=13 April 1999 |last=Meyer |first=Hans Joachim |title=Perspektivrede des Präsidenten der Kultusministerkonferenz |work=Deutschen Bildungskongress |location=Bonn |url= https://www.kmk.org/aktuelles/artikelansicht/perspektivrede-des-praesidenten-der-kultusministerkonferenz-prof-dr-hans-joachim-meyersaechsischer-staatsminister-fuer-wissenschaft-und-kunst.html |publisher=Sekretariat der Ständigen Konferenz der Kultusminister der Länder in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland |language=de |access-date=12 February 2018}}</ref> His responsibilities included participation as leader of the East German delegation at the {{ill|Gemeinsame Bildungskommission|de}} between May and September 1990. The commission was mandated to adapt an education system that would be implemented across a unified Germany. The commission's output was summarized in the [[German reunification#German Reunification Treaty|Reunification Treaty]] (Articles 37 & 38) which came into force in October 1990 and was then implemented both at government level and on the ground.<ref name=Bildungssysteme>{{cite web |url=http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/pdf/deu/Chapter13_doc1.pdf |title=Band 10 Ein Deutschland in Europa 1989 – 2009 |date=26 September 1990 |publisher=German Historical Institute (GHI) |location=Washington, DC |language=de |access-date=12 February 2018}}</ref> In August 1990, the [[Christian Democratic Union (East Germany)|East German CDU]] formally merged back into the [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|CDU]] from which it had been forcibly separated, and Meyer took the opportunity to rejoin the party from which, out of "disappointment over the party's limited political options", he had resigned in 1961.<ref name=HJMlautMunz/>


[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-1108-021, Dresden, Kabinett des Freistaat Sachsen.jpg|thumb|1990 Cabinet of Saxony]]
In August 1990 the [[Christian Democratic Union (East Germany)|East German CDU]] formally merged back into the [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|CDU]] from which it had been forcibly separated, and Meyer took the opportunity to rejoin the party from which, out of "disappointment over the party's limited political options", he had resigned in 1961.<ref name=HJMlautMunz/> Directly following reunification he joined the regional government of [[Kurt Biedenkopf]] in Saxony, serving between November 1990 and May 2002 as {{ill|Saxony's Minister of State for Sciences and the Arts|de|Sächsisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst}}.<ref name="Arens">{{cite web |url=http://www.katholisch.de/aktuelles/aktuelle-artikel/hartnackig-und-unabhangig |title=Hartnäckig und unabhängig |last=Arens |first=Christoph |website=katholisch.de |language=de |date=13 October 2016}}</ref><ref name="FAZ" /><!--<ref name=HJMlautCicero>{{cite web | url=http://www.cicero-rednerpreis.de/vita_meyer.htm |title=Vita: Professor Dr. Hans Joachim Meyer |publisher=VNR Verlag für die Deutsche Wirtschaft AG (Cicero Rednerpreis) |location=Bonn |language=de |access-date=12 February 2018}}</ref>--> For lay Catholics, he became leader of the "Gemeinsamer Aktionsausschuss katholischer Christen in der DDR" and a member of the [[Central Committee of German Catholics]], serving as its president from 1995 to 2009.<ref name="Arens" /><ref name="FAZ" />
Directly following reunification Meyer joined the regional government of [[Kurt Biedenkopf]] in Saxony, serving between November 1990 and May 2002 as {{ill|Saxony's Minister of State for Sciences and the Arts|de|Sächsisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst}}.<ref name="Arens">{{cite web |url=http://www.katholisch.de/aktuelles/aktuelle-artikel/hartnackig-und-unabhangig |title=Hartnäckig und unabhängig |last=Arens |first=Christoph |website=katholisch.de |language=de |date=13 October 2016}}</ref><ref name="FAZ" /><!--<ref name=HJMlautCicero>{{cite web | url=http://www.cicero-rednerpreis.de/vita_meyer.htm |title=Vita: Professor Dr. Hans Joachim Meyer |publisher=VNR Verlag für die Deutsche Wirtschaft AG (Cicero Rednerpreis) |location=Bonn |language=de |access-date=12 February 2018}}</ref>--> For lay Catholics, he became leader of the "Gemeinsamer Aktionsausschuss katholischer Christen in der DDR" and a member of the [[Central Committee of German Catholics]], serving as its president from 1995 to 2009.<ref name="Arens" /><ref name="FAZ" /> In this function, he was the host of the first {{ill|Ökumenischer Kirchentag|de}}, an ecumenical church gathering held in Berlin in 2003.<ref name="Förner" />


=== Personal life ===
=== Personal life ===
Meyer lived in [[Potsdam]]. He published his memoir in 2015, ''{{ill|In keiner Schublade|de}}''.<ref name="Arens" />
Meyer lived in [[Potsdam]]. He published his memoir in 2015, ''{{ill|In keiner Schublade|de}}''.<ref name="Arens" />


He died on 29 March 2024, at the age of 87.<ref name="FAZ">{{cite web|url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/letzter-ddr-bildungsminister-hans-joachim-meyer-gestorben-19622325.html |title=Letzter DDR-Bildungsminister Hans Joachim Meyer gestorben |date=30 March 2024 |newspaper=[[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung|FAZ]] |language=de |access-date=31 March 2024}}</ref>
He died in Potsdam on 29 March 2024,<ref name="Aufarbeitung" /> at the age of 87.<ref name="FAZ">{{cite news|url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/letzter-ddr-bildungsminister-hans-joachim-meyer-gestorben-19622325.html |title=Letzter DDR-Bildungsminister Hans Joachim Meyer gestorben |date=30 March 2024 |newspaper=[[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung|FAZ]] |language=de |access-date=31 March 2024}}</ref>


== Awards and honours ==
== Awards and honours ==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* 2002: Honorary doctorate from the [[TU Dresden|TU Dresden (university)]]
* 2002: Honorary doctorate from the [[TU Dresden]]<ref>[https://tu-dresden.de/ua/dokumentationen/dokumentationen/ehrenpromovenden-der-th-tu-dresden-alphabetisch/ehrenpromovenden-der-th-tu-dresden-chronologisch Ehrenpromovenden] (in German) TU Dresden</ref>
* 2003: Honorary membership of the [[Saxon Academy of Sciences|Saxony Academy of Arts and Sciences]]<ref name=HJMlautwww/>
* 2003: Honorary membership of the [[Saxon Academy of Sciences|Saxony Academy of Arts and Sciences]]<ref name="Aufarbeitung" />
* 2005: [[Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]<ref name=HJMlautwww/>
* 2005: [[Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]<ref name="Aufarbeitung" />
* 2007: Leibniz Medal<ref name="Berlin-Brandenburgische2008" />
* 2007: Leibniz Medal<ref name="Berlin-Brandenburgische2008" />
* 2008: {{ill|Johann Walter Plakette|de}}
* 2008: {{ill|Johann Walter Plakette|de}}<ref>[https://www.saechsischer-musikrat.de/johann-walter-medaille/ Die Johann Walter Medaille] (in German) saechsischer-musikrat.de</ref>
* 2013: {{ill|Hans-Olaf-Henkel Prize|de|Hans-Olaf-Henkel-Preis – Preis für Wissenschaftspolitik}}
* 2013: {{ill|Hans-Olaf-Henkel Prize|de|Hans-Olaf-Henkel-Preis – Preis für Wissenschaftspolitik}}<ref>[https://www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de/ueber-uns/neues/presse/pressemitteilungen/pressemitteilungen-single/newsdetails/hans-olaf-henkel-preis-preis-fuer-wissenschaftspolitik-geht-an-hans-joachim-meyer "Hans-Olaf-Henkel-Preis – Preis für Wissenschaftspolitik" geht an Hans Joachim Meyer] (in German) leibniz-gemeinschaft.de 21 November 2013</ref>
* 2015: [[Order of Merit of the Free State of Saxony]]
* 2015: [[Order of Merit of the Free State of Saxony]]<ref>[https://www.geschichte.sachsen.de/ordenstraeger-von-a-bis-z-3953.html#a-4130 Ordensträger] (in German) geschichte.sachsen.de</ref>
* 2017: [[Order of St. Gregory the Great]]<ref name=HJMlautSF/>
* 2017: [[Order of St. Gregory the Great]]<ref name="Förner" />
{{div col end}}
{{div col end}}


== Publications ==
== Publications ==
* with {{ill|Hanna Harnisch|de}}: ''Zur Untersuchung von Kommunikationsverfahren unter linguistischem Aspekt. Zum Problem der kommunikativ-funktionalen oder thematischen Zuordnung von Verben'' (= [[Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg]]. research collektive ''Kommunikativ-Funktionale Sprachbetrachtung und Fremdsprachenunterricht: Arbeitsbericht, 46''). Halle 1977<ref name="Förner" /><!--<ref>{{DNB|800863445}}</ref>-->
⚫
* {{cite book|last=Meyer|first=Hans Joachim|date=2015|title={{ill|In keiner Schublade|de}} – Erfahrungen im geteilten und vereinten Deutschland |publisher=Herder |isbn=978-3-451-32968-5 |language=de}}
* ''Am Ende der Ichgesellschaft''.<ref name="Aufarbeitung" />
⚫
* ''{{ill|In keiner Schublade|de}} – Erfahrungen im geteilten und vereinten Deutschland''<ref>{{cite book |last=Meyer |first=Hans Joachim |date=2015 |title=In keiner Schublade |publisher=Herder |isbn=978-3-451-32968-5 |language=de}}</ref>


== References ==
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commonscat}}


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Latest revision as of 18:59, 26 October 2024

Hans Joachim Meyer
Meyer in 2015
Born(1936-10-13)13 October 1936
Rostock, Germany
Died29 March 2024(2024-03-29) (aged 87)
Potsdam, Germany
EducationHumboldt University of Berlin
Occupations
  • Academic teacher
  • Minister of education
Organizations
Political partyCDU (East Germany) (1952–1961)
CDU (from 1990)
Awards

Hans Joachim Meyer (13 October 1936 – 29 March 2024) was a German linguist and CDU politician. When East Germany's authorities interrupted his law studies in Potsdam after six terms, he turned to English and American studies at the Humboldt University of Berlin where he then lectured and researched from 1964, with a habilitation in 1981, and as professor of applied linguistics from 1985 to 1990.

He served in the cabinet of Lothar de Maiziére as the last East German Minister for Education and the Arts. After German reunification he became State Minister for Sciences and the Arts [de] in the state government of Saxony. In addition, he served as President of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) from 1997 to 2009.

Life and career

[edit]

Hans Joachim Meyer was born on 13 October 1936 in Rostock.[1][2][3][4] His father ran a pharmacy, and his mother was a teacher.[5] He grew up in an area that after 1945 was part of the Soviet occupation zone which became the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in October 1949. After successfully completing school with the Abitur in Rostock he moved to the Berlin area. He studied law[5] at the Deutsche Akademie für Staats- und Rechtswissenschaft der DDR [de] in Potsdam between 1955 and 1958 but was excluded after six terms[5][4] before he could complete his degree because he "failed to connect with the working class" (wegen "mangelnder Verbindung zur Arbeiterklasse"). The real issue, he later told an interviewer, was his commitment to the Catholic Church.[6] His decision while still at school to join the CDU back in 1952, at a time when the ruling party was engaged in a robust campaign to take control of rival political parties, would already have drawn him to the attention of the authorities as a potential dissident in the making. For the next year he worked as an "assistant" at the VEB Lokomotivbau Potsdam-Babelsberg, a nearby rail-locomotive plant. After that, resigning from the CDU in 1961,[2] he was able to resume his university studies, now embarking on a course at the Humboldt University of Berlin in English and American studies and history.[5] His decision to select subjects regarded by the authorities as less political[6] was vindicated; he was able to complete his course with a degree in 1964.[1] He remained at the university as a lecturer and senior research assistant between 1964 and 1982. He received his doctorate in 1971. His dissertation was, again, resolutely non-political: it comprised a semantic analysis of the modern English verb prefix "Up" when compared to related prefixes in English and German ("Semantische Analyse der modernenglischen Verbalpartikel "up" im Vergleich zu verwandten englischen und deutschen Verbalpartikeln").[7] Ten years later his habilitation, received in 1981,[2] could have opened the way to a lifelong university career, had events not intervened. He was assigned to the foreign languages section between 1973 and 1977, becoming deputy director for education and training. Between 1978 and 1990 he headed up the intensive languages training section at the university.[2] He also held an appointment as Professor of Applied Linguistics from 1985 to 1990.[2][4]

During his academic career in East Berlin Meyer was engaged with the Catholic Church in Germany. Between 1973 and 1975 he served as a member of the Dresden Pastoral Synod.[8][2][9] Between 1976 and 1982 he worked with the Pastoral Council for the Bishopric of East Berlin.[10]

Wende

[edit]

After the Peaceful Revolution, the 1990 East German general election was the country's first free and fair election. Shortly after, Meyer received and accepted an invitation to join the new government headed up by Lothar de Maizière, despite not being a member of any political party, and despite not having stood for election to the Volkskammer national parliament.[2] Between 12 April and 3 October 1990, Meyer served as the German Democratic Republic's last Minister for Education and the Arts.[8][11] His responsibilities included participation as leader of the East German delegation at the Gemeinsame Bildungskommission [de] between May and September 1990. The commission was mandated to adapt an education system that would be implemented across a unified Germany. The commission's output was summarized in the Reunification Treaty (Articles 37 & 38) which came into force in October 1990 and was then implemented both at government level and on the ground.[12] In August 1990, the East German CDU formally merged back into the CDU from which it had been forcibly separated, and Meyer took the opportunity to rejoin the party from which, out of "disappointment over the party's limited political options", he had resigned in 1961.[1]

1990 Cabinet of Saxony

Directly following reunification Meyer joined the regional government of Kurt Biedenkopf in Saxony, serving between November 1990 and May 2002 as Saxony's Minister of State for Sciences and the Arts [de].[5][8] For lay Catholics, he became leader of the "Gemeinsamer Aktionsausschuss katholischer Christen in der DDR" and a member of the Central Committee of German Catholics, serving as its president from 1995 to 2009.[5][8] In this function, he was the host of the first Ökumenischer Kirchentag [de], an ecumenical church gathering held in Berlin in 2003.[10]

Personal life

[edit]

Meyer lived in Potsdam. He published his memoir in 2015, In keiner Schublade [de].[5]

He died in Potsdam on 29 March 2024,[2] at the age of 87.[8]

Awards and honours

[edit]

Publications

[edit]
  • with Hanna Harnisch [de]: Zur Untersuchung von Kommunikationsverfahren unter linguistischem Aspekt. Zum Problem der kommunikativ-funktionalen oder thematischen Zuordnung von Verben (= Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. research collektive Kommunikativ-Funktionale Sprachbetrachtung und Fremdsprachenunterricht: Arbeitsbericht, 46). Halle 1977[10]
  • Am Ende der Ichgesellschaft.[2]
  • In keiner Schublade [de] – Erfahrungen im geteilten und vereinten Deutschland[17]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Hans-Joachim Meyer". Munzinger-Archiv (in German). 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Müller-Enbergs, Helmut (2024). "Meyer, Hans-Joachim". Wer war wer in der DDR? (in German). Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin & Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur, Berlin. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  3. ^ a b Stock, Günter (7 July 2008). "Verleihung der Leibniz-Medaille an Hans Joachim Meyer". Jahrbuch 2007 (in German). Georg Thieme Verlag. pp. 132–135. ISBN 978-3-05-004436-1.
  4. ^ a b c Ischinger, Barbara (1997). "Im Osten viel Neues: Plenty of news from the Eastern Lander". In Richards Graubard, Stephen (ed.). A New Europe for the Old?. Transaction Publishers. pp. 144–145. ISBN 978-1-4128-1617-5.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Arens, Christoph (13 October 2016). "Hartnäckig und unabhängig". katholisch.de (in German).
  6. ^ a b Höfling, Gabriele (10 October 2016). "Christen waren keine gleichberechtigten Bürger". katholisch.de (in German). Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  7. ^ Meyer, Hans Joachim (1970). Semantische Analyse der modernenglischen Verbalpartikel "up" im Vergleich zu verwandten englischen und deutschen Verbalpartikeln (in German).
  8. ^ a b c d e "Letzter DDR-Bildungsminister Hans Joachim Meyer gestorben". FAZ (in German). 30 March 2024. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  9. ^ Meyer, Hans Joachim (10 December 2005). "Die Stellung der Laienräte in den Beschlüssen der Gemeinsamen Synode in Würzburg". Vollversammlung des Katholikenrates im Bistum Regensburg (in German).
  10. ^ a b c d Förner, Stefan (31 August 2017). "Hohe päpstliche Auszeichnung für Prof. Dr. Hans Joachim Meyer" (in German). Erzbischöfliches Ordinariat Berlin. Archived from the original on 13 February 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  11. ^ Meyer, Hans Joachim (13 April 1999). "Perspektivrede des Präsidenten der Kultusministerkonferenz". Deutschen Bildungskongress (in German). Bonn: Sekretariat der Ständigen Konferenz der Kultusminister der Länder in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  12. ^ "Band 10 Ein Deutschland in Europa 1989 – 2009" (PDF) (in German). Washington, DC: German Historical Institute (GHI). 26 September 1990. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  13. ^ Ehrenpromovenden (in German) TU Dresden
  14. ^ Die Johann Walter Medaille (in German) saechsischer-musikrat.de
  15. ^ "Hans-Olaf-Henkel-Preis – Preis für Wissenschaftspolitik" geht an Hans Joachim Meyer (in German) leibniz-gemeinschaft.de 21 November 2013
  16. ^ Ordensträger (in German) geschichte.sachsen.de
  17. ^ Meyer, Hans Joachim (2015). In keiner Schublade (in German). Herder. ISBN 978-3-451-32968-5.
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