Walter Romberg
German politician (1928–2014)
title: "Walter Romberg" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["20th-century-german-mathematicians", "20th-century-german-politicians", "1928-births", "2014-deaths", "people-from-schwerin", "finance-ministers-of-east-germany", "social-democratic-party-of-germany-politicians"] description: "German politician (1928–2014)" topic_path: "economics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Romberg" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary German politician (1928–2014) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| image | Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-0129-027, Dr. Walter Romberg.jpg |
| caption | Romberg in 1990 |
| office | Minister of Finance |
| 1blankname | Minister-President |
| 1namedata | Lothar de Maizière |
| term_start | 12 April 1990 |
| term_end | 16 August 1990 |
| predecessor | Walter Siegert (acting) |
| successor | Werner Skowron (acting) |
| office1 | Minister without Portfolio |
| 1blankname1 | [Chairman of the |
| Council of Ministers](council-of-ministers-of-east-germany-chairmen-of-the-council-of-ministers) | |
| 1namedata1 | Hans Modrow |
| term_start1 | 5 February 1990 |
| term_end1 | 12 April 1990 |
| predecessor1 | Office established |
| successor1 | Office abolished |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Schwerin, Free State of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Weimar Republic |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Teltow, Brandenburg, Germany |
| restingplace | Schwerin, Germany |
| party | Social Democratic Party (1990–2014) |
| otherparty | Social Democratic Party in the GDR (1989–1990) |
| nationality | German |
| :: |
| image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-0129-027, Dr. Walter Romberg.jpg |caption = Romberg in 1990 |office = Minister of Finance |1blankname = Minister-President |1namedata = Lothar de Maizière | term_start = 12 April 1990 | term_end = 16 August 1990 | predecessor = Walter Siegert (acting) | successor = Werner Skowron (acting) | office1 = Minister without Portfolio |1blankname1 = Chairman of the Council of Ministers |1namedata1 = Hans Modrow | term_start1 = 5 February 1990 | term_end1 = 12 April 1990 | predecessor1 = Office established | successor1 = Office abolished | birth_date = | birth_place = Schwerin, Free State of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Weimar Republic | death_date = | death_place = Teltow, Brandenburg, Germany | restingplace = Schwerin, Germany | party = Social Democratic Party (1990–2014) | otherparty = Social Democratic Party in the GDR (1989–1990) | alma_mater = | spouse = | nationality = German | children = Walter Romberg (27 December 1928 – 23 May 2014) was a German politician and finance minister of East Germany.{{cite thesis |author=Carol Diane St Louis|title=Negotiating Change: Approaches to and the Distributional Implications of Social Welfare and Economic Reform|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EW-zz_H54LMC&pg=PA170|year=2011|location=Stanford University|id=STANFORD:RW793BX2256|page=170 |degree=PhD}}
Early life and education
Romberg was born in Schwerin on 27 December 1928. From 1947, he studied physics and mathematics. He held a Dr. rer. nat. in mathematics.
Career
He worked at the East German Academy of Sciences.{{cite news|title=Walter Romberg gestorben|access-date=9 April 2022 |url=https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/934601.walter-romberg-gestorben.html|work=nd aktuell|date=30 May 2014|language=de}} He was editor-in-chief of the Zentralblatt MATH from 1965 to 1978.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de/de/recherche/kataloge-datenbanken/biographische-datenbanken/walter-romberg|title=Romberg, Walter|work=Biographische Datenbanken |access-date=5 July 2021|language=de}}
Romberg became a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1989. He served as the minister without portfolio in the cabinet of Prime Minister Hans Modrow between 1989 and 1990. Romberg was appointed minister of finance to the cabinet led by Prime Minister Lothar de Maizière on 12 April 1990 following the first free elections of East Germany on 18 March 1990.{{cite news|title=East Germany's foreign minister quits|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1696&dat=19900821&id=Y_gaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jkcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7067,3776349 |access-date=12 September 2012|newspaper=Daily News|date=21 August 1990}} Romberg was one of the senior social democratic members of de Maizière's cabinet.
Romberg was removed from office on 15 August 1990 due to his support for the challenging clauses in a political unification treaty governing the allocation of tax revenues. He also angered the West German officials with his continuous demands for more cash help to bail out the weak East German industries and to finance welfare payments. Romberg was also fired due to his warnings about the reunification in terms of its economic burden and his critical and even pessimistic approach towards it.{{cite book |author=Peter H. Merkl|title=German Unification|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dduIXz8kpEsC&pg=PA263|year=2004|isbn=978-0-271-02566-7 |publisher=Penn State Press|page=263|location=University Park, PA}}
Werner Skowron succeeded Romberg in the post. Following the dismissal of Romberg, SPD left the coalition on 20 August 1990, and called it unconstitutional.{{cite book|author=Gerhard A. Ritter|title=The Price of German Unity: Reunification and the Crisis of the Welfare State |year=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=siK2K0_Y6GoC&pg=PA24|isbn=978-0-19-955682-3|page=24}}{{cite news|author=Tyler Marshall|title=Shaky Coalition Regime Folds in E. Germany|access-date=12 September 2012 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-08-20-mn-749-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=20 August 1990|location=East Berlin}} Until 1994 Romberg served at the European Parliament.
Views
In 1991, after unification, Romberg stated in a conference held at Humboldt University that the West German leadership did not comprehend the huge differences between two countries' economic patterns.
Later years and personal life
Romberg was married and had three sons. In 1997, he moved to Teltow with his wife. He died there on 23 May 2014 and was buried in his hometown Schwerin.
References
References
- (8 June 2014). "Abschied von Walter Romberg". Märkische Allgemeine.
- Ray Moseley. (16 August 1990). "Cabinet Shakeup in E. Germany". [[Chicago Tribune]].
- Günter Grass. (2017). "From Germany to Germany: Diary 1990". Harvill Secker.
- Ferdinand Protzman. (19 May 1990). "Evolution in Europe; Germanys Sign Pact Binding Economies". The New York Times.
- Tyler Marshall. (16 August 1990). "Two ministers are fired and two resign. The moves could raise tensions in a multi-party coalition as merger with Bonn nears". Los Angeles Times.
- Peter E. Quint. (1997). "The Imperfect Union: Constitutional Structures of German Unification". Princeton University Press.
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