Franz-Josef Wuermeling

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Franz-Josef Wuermeling

|image = Bundesarchiv Bild 146III-386, Franz-Josef Wuermeling.jpg

|caption = Wuermeling in 1950

|office = Federal Minister for Family Affairs

|chancellor = Konrad Adenauer

|term_start = 1953

|term_end = 1962

|predecessor = Post created

|successor = Bruno Heck

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|birth_date = 8 November 1900

|birth_place = Charlottenburg, Berlin

|death_date = 7 March 1986

|death_place = Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia

|spouse =

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|alma_mater = University of Münster
University of Hamburg
University of Freiburg

}}

Franz-Josef Wuermeling (8 November 1900 – 7 March 1986) was a West German CDU politician and minister who served as Federal Minister for Family Affairs from 1953 to 1962.{{cite web |title=Wuermeling, Franz-Joseph |url=https://pm20.zbw.eu/folder/pe/042105 |website=Pressemappe 20. Jahrhundert |access-date=1 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220101171451/http://webopac.hwwa.de/PresseMappe20Bookmark/PM20bm.cfm?i=Wuermeling%2C+Franz-Joseph+1900-1986&mid=P042105 |archive-date=1 January 2022}}

Early life and education

Wuermeling was born in Charlottenburg, Berlin in 1900. His father, Bernhard, worked at the Reichsamt des Innern and the Reichsarbeitsamt, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Labour in the German Empire.{{cite web |last1=Marx |first1=Stefan |title=Franz-Josef Wuermeling |url=https://www.kas.de/web/geschichte-der-cdu/personen/biogramm-detail/-/content/franz-josef-wuermeling-v1 |website=Konrad Adenauer Stiftung |access-date=23 October 2019 |language=de}} Wuermeling attended school in Berlin and studied law and economics at Münster University, Hamburg University and Freiburg University.{{cite web |title=Franz-Josef Wuermeling |url=https://www.munzinger.de/search/portrait/franz+josef+wuermeling/0/2997.html |website=Munzinger |access-date=23 October 2019}} He served in the German Navy in the First World War.{{cite web |title=Wuermeling, Franz-Josef / 1900-1986 |url=https://rpb.lbz-rlp.de/cgi-bin/wwwalleg/srchrnam.pl?db=rnam&recnums=0009064 |website=Rheinland-Pfälzische Personendatenbank |access-date=25 October 2019}}

Political career

Wuermeling was the mayor of Linz for a year in 1945 before being elected to the Rhineland Landtag (Parliament) where he served as a Secretary in the State Ministry of the Interior from 1947 to 1949.{{cite web |title=Wuermeling, Franz Josef |url=http://www.bundesarchiv.de/cocoon/barch/0000/z/z1961z/kap1_10/para2_142.html?highlight=true&search=%22Wuermeling,%20Franz%20Josef%22&stemming=false&field=all#highlightedTerm |website=Das Bundesarchiv |access-date=25 October 2019 |language=de}} In the 1949 German federal election, Wuermeling was elected to the West German Bundestag.

=Adenauer cabinet=

File:KAS-Würmeling, Franz-Josef-Bild-405-1.jpg

After the 1953 election, Wuermeling was appointed the first Federal Minister for Family Affairs.{{cite web |title=Franz-Josef Wuermeling 1900 - 1986 |url=https://www.hdg.de/lemo/biografie/franz-josef-wuermeling.html |website=20 Lemo Jahre |access-date=23 October 2019}} Wuermeling would stay in the post through Adenauer's second, third and fourth ministries until December 1962.{{cite web |title=Franz-Josef Wuermeling, Federal Minister of Family Affairs (September 1954) |url=http://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=2598 |website=German History in Documents and Images |access-date=23 October 2019}}{{cite book |last1=Childs |first1=David |last2=Johnson |first2=Jeffrey |title=West Germany (RLE: German Politics): Politics and Society |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317537595 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QmffBQAAQBAJ&q=Franz-Josef+Wuermeling&pg=PT70}}

He introduced the so-called "Wuermeling pass" which enabled families with children to travel at a discounted price.{{cite web |title=Geschichte des Ministeriums |url=https://www.bmfsfj.de/bmfsfj/ministerium/geschichte |website=Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend |access-date=23 October 2019}}