Hans-Dietrich Genscher

Genscher was born on 21 March 1927 in Reideburg (Province of Saxony Anhalt), now a part of Halle, in what later became East Germany. He was the son of Hilda Kreime and Kurt Genscher.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sR4Ch1dMe8IC&q=%22Kurt+Genscher+and+the+late+Hilda+Kreime%22&pg=PA597|title=The International Who's Who 2004|isbn=9781857432176|last1=Publications|first1=Europa|year=2003|publisher=Psychology Press }} His father, a lawyer, died when Genscher was nine years old.{{cite news|last1=Günsche|first1=Karl-Ludwig|title=Zum Tod von Hans-Dietrich Genscher: Marathonmann der deutschen Politik|url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/hans-dietrich-genscher-ist-tot-nachruf-a-1085018.html|work=Spiegel Online|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de|date=1 April 2016}} In 1943, he was drafted to serve as a member of the Air Force Support Personnel (Luftwaffenhelfer) at the age of 16. At age 17, close to the end of the war, he and his fellow soldiers became members of the Nazi Party due to a collective application (Sammelantrag) by his Wehrmacht unit. He later said he was unaware of it at the time.[https://www.welt.de/kultur/article989531/Von_Grass_bis_Genscher_Wer_noch_in_der_NSDAP_war.html Zeitgeschichte: Von Grass bis Genscher – Wer noch in der NSDAP war]. Die Welt, 1 July 2007.

Late in the war, Genscher was deployed as a soldier in General Walther Wenck's 12th Army, which ostensibly was directed to relieve the siege of Berlin. After the German surrender he was an American and British prisoner of war, but was released after two months.Ulrich Herbert, Universität Freiburg, Darmstädter Echo, Samstag, 13 June 2015, p. 5. Following World War II, he studied law and economics at the universities of Halle and Leipzig (1946–1949) and joined the East German Liberal Democratic Party (LDPD) in 1946.{{cite book|title=A Dictionary of Political Biography|year=1998|publisher=OUP|location=Oxford|page=184|url=https://www.questia.com/read/34683530/a-dictionary-of-political-biography|author=Dennis Kavanagh|access-date=1 September 2013|chapter=Genscher, Hans-Dietrich|archive-date=27 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027014837/https://www.gale.com/databases/questia|url-status=dead}}

In 1952, Genscher fled to West Germany, where he joined the Free Democratic Party (FDP). He passed his second state examination in law in Hamburg in 1954 and became a solicitor in Bremen. During these early years after the war, Genscher continuously struggled with illness. From 1956 to 1959 he was a research assistant of the FDP parliamentary group in Bonn. From 1959 to 1965 he was the FDP group managing director, while from 1962 to 1964 he was National Secretary of the FDP.

In 1965 Genscher was elected on the North Rhine-Westphalian FDP list to the West German parliament and remained a member of parliament until his retirement in 1998.{{cite web|title=Bundestag trauert um Hans-Dietrich Genscher|url=http://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2016/kw13-lammert-genscher/417022|publisher=Deutscher Bundestag|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de|date=1 April 2016}} He was elected deputy national chairman in 1968. From 1969 he served as minister of the interior in the SPD-FDP coalition government led by Chancellor Willy Brandt.

In 1974 he became foreign minister and vice chancellor, both posts he would hold for 18 years. From 1 October 1974 to 23 February 1985 he was Chairman of the FDP. It was during his tenure as party chairman that the FDP switched from being the junior member of social-liberal coalition to being the junior member of the 1982 coalition with the CDU/CSU. In 1985 he gave up the post of national chairman.{{cite news|last1=Hofmann|first1=Gunter|title=Der "Mister Mitte" der Republik|url=http://www.zeit.de/1992/19/der-mister-mitte-der-republik/komplettansicht|newspaper=Die Zeit|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de|date=1 May 1992}} After his resignation as Foreign Minister, Genscher was appointed honorary chairman of the FDP in 1992.{{cite news|title=Porträt: Jahrzehnte prägte Genscher die deutsche Politik|url=http://www.zeit.de/news/2016-04/01/parteien-bundesregierung-wuerdigt-genscher-als-grossen-staatsmann-01123805|newspaper=Die Zeit|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de|date=1 April 2016}}

After the federal election of 1969 Genscher was instrumental in the formation of the social-liberal coalition of chancellor Willy Brandt and was on 22 October 1969 appointed as federal minister of the interior.

In 1972, while minister for the interior, Genscher rejected Israel's offer to send an Israeli special forces unit to Germany to deal with the Munich Olympics hostage crisis. He offered himself as a hostage under the condition that the Israeli athletes would be released, but the leader of the terror group rejected that offer. {{cite web |title=Die Rolle von Hans-Dietrich Genscher |url=https://www.daserste.de/information/reportage-dokumentation/vom-traum-zum-terror-muenchen-72/hintergrund/die-rolle-von-hans-dietrich-genscher-100.html |website=www.daserste.de |access-date=16 July 2024}} A flawed rescue attempt by German police forces at Fürstenfeldbruck air base resulted in a bloody shootout, which left all eleven hostages, five terrorists, and one German policeman dead. Genscher then offered to resign as Minister of the Interior to chancellor Brandt, but Brandt rejected the offer. Genscher's popularity with Israel declined further when he endorsed the release of the three captured attackers following the hijacking of a Lufthansa aircraft on 29 October 1972.{{cite web|title=1972 Olympics Massacre: Germany's Secret Contacts to Palestinian Terrorists|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/germany-maintained-contacts-with-palestinians-after-munich-massacre-a-852322.html|work=Der Spiegel|access-date=26 July 2013|date=28 August 2012}}

In the SPD–FDP coalition, Genscher helped shape Brandt's policy of deescalation with the communist East, commonly known as Ostpolitik, which was continued under chancellor Helmut Schmidt after Brandt's resignation in 1974. He would later be a driving factor in continuing this policy in the new conservative-liberal coalition under Helmut Kohl.

In the negotiations on a coalition government of SPD and FDP following the 1976 elections, it took Genscher 73 days to reach agreement with Chancellor Helmut Schmidt.Quentin Peel (22 September 2013), [http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/137e5b9c-23af-11e3-98a1-00144feab7de.html Coalition uncertainty hangs over Angela Merkel victory] Financial Times.

As Foreign Minister, Genscher stood for a policy of compromise between East and West, and developed strategies for an active policy of détente and the continuation of the East–West dialogue with the USSR. He was widely regarded a strong advocate of negotiated settlements to international problems.Stephen Kinzer (22 March 1991), [https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/22/world/genscher-at-eye-of-policy-debate.html Genscher At Eye of Policy Debate] The New York Times. As a popular story on Genscher's preferred method of shuttle diplomacy has it, "two Lufthansa jets crossed over the Atlantic, and Genscher was on both".William Tuohy (11 June 1989), [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-06-11-mn-3249-story.html Bonn's Genscher Views Gorbachev Reforms as 'Historic Opportunity'] Los Angeles Times.

File:Bush senior und Hans-Dietrich Genscher.jpg and Genscher (21 November 1989)]]

Genscher was a major player in the negotiations on the text of the Helsinki Accords. In December 1976, the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York City accepted Genscher's proposal of an anti-terrorism convention in New York,[http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/302/86/IMG/NR030286.pdf?OpenElement Drafting of an international convention against taking hostages] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323181124/http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/302/86/IMG/NR030286.pdf?OpenElement |date=23 March 2014 }} which was set among other things, to respond to demands from hostage-takers under any circumstances.

Genscher was one of the FDP's driving forces when, in 1982, the party switched sides from its coalition with the SPD to support the CDU/CSU in their Constructive vote of no confidence to have incumbent Helmut Schmidt replaced with opposition leader Helmut Kohl as Chancellor. The reason for this was the increase in the differences between the coalition partners, particularly in economic and social policy. The switch was controversial, not least in his own party.{{cite web|title=Hans-Dietrich Genscher: Ein Leben in Bildern|url=https://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/bilder/genscher-103.html|publisher=Tagesschau|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de|date=1 April 2016}}

At several points in his tenure, he irritated the governments of the United States and other allies of Germany by appearing not to support Western initiatives fully. "During the Cold War, his penchant to seek the middle ground at times exasperated United States policy-makers who wanted a more decisive, less equivocal Germany", according to Tyler Marshall.Tyler Marshall (28 April 1992), [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-28-mn-954-story.html Genscher Quits as Germany's Foreign Minister] Los Angeles Times. Genscher's perceived quasi-neutralism was dubbed Genscherism. "Fundamental to Genscherism was said to be the belief that Germany could play a role as a bridge between East and West without losing its status as a reliable NATO ally." In the 1980s, Genscher opposed the deployment of new short-range NATO missiles in Germany. At the time, the Reagan Administration questioned whether Germany was straying from the Western alliance and following a program of its own.Stephen Kinzer (28 April 1992), [https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/28/world/genscher-bonn-s-foreign-minister-18-years-resigns.html Genscher, Bonn's Foreign Minister 18 Years, Resigns] The New York Times.

In 1984, Genscher became the first Western foreign minister to visit Tehran since the Iranian Revolution of 1979. In 1988, he appointed Jürgen Hellner as West Germany's new ambassador to Libya, a post that had been vacant since the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing, a tragedy which U.S. officials blamed on the government of Muammar Gaddafi.[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-10-01-mn-4274-story.html Bonn Names Libya Envoy] Los Angeles Times, 1 October 1988.

Genscher's proposals frequently set the tone and direction of foreign affairs among Western Europe's democracies. He was also an active participant in the further development of the European Union, taking an active part in the Single European Act Treaty negotiations in the mid-1980s, as well as the joint publication of the Genscher-Colombo plan with Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Emilio Colombo which advocated further integration and deepening of relations in the European Union towards a more federal Europe. He later was among the politicians who pushed hard for monetary union alongside Edouard Balladur, France's finance minister, and Giuliano Amato,Tony Barber (16 December 2012), [http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/e287d1e6-406d-11e2-8f90-00144feabdc0.html The blueprint for lopsided monetary union] Financial Times. circulating a memorandum to that effect.Hans-Dietrich Genscher (26 February 1988), [http://moneyingreece.org/library/genscher-memorandum-1988 Memorandum für die Schaffung eines europäischen Währungsraumes und einer Europäischen Zentralbank].

Genscher retained his posts as foreign minister and vice chancellor through German reunification and until 1992 when he stepped down for health reasons.{{cite news|title=Hans-Dietrich Genscher mit 89 Jahren gestorben|url=https://www.welt.de/newsticker/dpa_nt/infoline_nt/thema_nt/article153887106/Hans-Dietrich-Genscher-mit-89-Jahren-gestorben.html|newspaper=Die Welt|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de|date=1 April 2016}}

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-0228-030, Erfurt, Volkskammerwahl, FDP-Wahlkundgebung, Genscher.jpg

Genscher is most respected for his efforts that helped spell the end of the Cold War, in the late 1980s when Communist eastern European governments toppled, and which led to German reunification. During his time in office, he focused on maintaining stability and balance between the West and the Soviet bloc. From the beginning, he argued that the West should seek cooperation with Communist governments rather than treat them as implacably hostile; this policy was embraced by many Germans and other Europeans.

Genscher had great interest in European integration and the success of German reunification. He soon pushed for effective support of political reform processes in Poland and Hungary. For this purpose, he visited Poland to meet the chairman of Solidarity Lech Wałęsa as early as January 1980. Especially from 1987 he campaigned for an "active relaxation" policy response by the West to the Soviet efforts. In the years before German reunification, he made a point of maintaining strong ties with his birthplace Halle, which was regarded as significant by admirers and critics alike.William Tuohy (11 June 1989), [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-06-11-mn-3249-story.html Bonn's Genscher Views Gorbachev Reforms as 'Historic Opportunity'] Los Angeles Times.

When thousands of East Germans sought refuge in West German embassies in Czechoslovakia and Poland, Genscher held discussions on the refugee crisis at the United Nations in New York with the foreign ministers of Czechoslovakia, Poland, East Germany and the Soviet Union in September 1989.William Tuohy (1 October 1989), [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-01-mn-1077-story.html E. Germans Win Bid to Go to West : Prague, Warsaw Permit 4,000 in Embassies to Leave] Los Angeles Times. Genscher's 30 September 1989 speech from the balcony of the German embassy in Prague was an important milestone on the road to the end of the GDR. In the embassy courtyard thousands of East German citizens had assembled. They were trying to travel to West Germany, but were being denied permission to travel by the Czechoslovak government at the request of East Germany. He announced that he had reached an agreement with the Communist Czechoslovak government that the refugees could leave: "We have come to you to tell you that today, your departure ..." (German: "Wir sind zu Ihnen gekommen, um Ihnen mitzuteilen, dass heute Ihre Ausreise ..."). After these words, the speech was drowned in cheers.{{cite web|title=Former German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher dies|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35943728|publisher=BBC|access-date=1 April 2016|date=1 April 2016}}

With his fellow foreign ministers James Baker of the United States and Eduard Shevardnadze of the Soviet Union, Genscher is widely credited with securing Germany's subsequent peaceful unification and the withdrawal of Soviet forces.[http://www.haaretz.com/beta/1.603536 Former Soviet Minister and Georgia Leader Shevardnadze Dies at 86] Haaretz, 7 July 2014. He negotiated the German reunification in 1990 with his counterpart from the GDR, Markus Meckel.[https://www.orte-der-einheit.de/en/ministry-of-foreign-affairs-of-the-gdr Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the GDR: A New Beginning with Big Plans.] In: [https://www.orte-der-einheit.de/en/ Sites of Unity] (Haus der Geschichte), 2022. On 12 September 1990 he signed the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany on behalf of West Germany.{{cite web|url=https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%201696/volume-1696-I-29226-English.pdf|title=Federal Republic of Germany, German Democratic Republic, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America – Treaty on the final settlement with respect to Germany (with agreed minute). Signed at Moscow on 12 September 1990|date=1 December 1992|publisher=United Nations}} In November 1990, Genscher and his Polish counterpart Krzysztof Skubiszewski signed the German-Polish Border Treaty on the establishment of the Oder–Neisse line as Poland's western border. Meanwhile, he strongly endorsed the plans of the Bush Administration to assure continued U.S. influence in a post-Cold War Europe.Norman Kempster (5 April 1990), [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-04-05-mn-1006-story.html Bonn Official Agrees U.S. Must Play Role in Europe] Los Angeles Times.

In 1991, Genscher successfully pushed for Germany's recognition of the Republic of Croatia in the Croatian War of Independence shortly after JNA entered Vukovar.Stephen Kinzer (16 January 1992), [https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/16/world/europe-backing-germans-accepts-yugoslav-breakup.html Europe, Backing Germans, Accepts Yugoslav Breakup] The New York Times. After Croatia and Slovenia had declared independence, Genscher concluded that Yugoslavia could not be held together, and that republics that wanted to break from the Serbian-dominated federation deserved quick diplomatic recognition. He hoped that such recognition would stop the fighting. The rest of the European Union was subsequently pressured to follow suit soon afterward.Paul Lewis (16 December 1991), [https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/16/world/un-yields-to-plans-by-germany-to-recognize-yugoslav-republics.html U.N. Yields to Plans by Germany To Recognize Yugoslav Republics] The New York Times. The UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar had warned the German Government, that a recognition of Slovenia and Croatia would lead to an increase in aggression in the former Yugoslavia.

At a meeting of the European Community's foreign ministers in 1991, Genscher proposed to press for a war crimes trial for President Saddam Hussein of Iraq, accusing him of aggression against Kuwait, using chemical weapons against civilians and condoning genocide against the Kurds.Alan Riding (16 April 1991), [https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/16/world/european-nations-to-lift-sanctions-on-south-africa.html European Nations to Lift Sanctions On South Africa] The New York Times.

During the Gulf War, Genscher sought to deal with Iraq after other Western leaders had decided to go to war to force it out of Kuwait. Germany made a substantial financial contribution to the allied cause but, citing constitutional restrictions on the use of its armed forces, provided almost no military assistance. In January 1991, Germany sent Genscher on a state visit to Israel and followed up with an agreement to provide the Jewish state with $670 million in military aid, including financing for two submarines long coveted by Israel, a battery of Patriot missiles to defend against Iraqi missiles, 58 armored vehicles specially fitted to detect chemical and biological attacks, and a shipment of gas masks.Tom Hundley (3 February 1991), [https://www.chicagotribune.com/1991/02/03/german-aid-to-iraq-opens-israeli-wounds/ German Aid To Iraq Opens Israeli Wounds] Chicago Tribune. When, in the aftermath of the war, a far-reaching political debate broke out over how Germany should fulfill its global responsibilities, Genscher responded that if foreign powers expect Germany to assume greater responsibility in the world, they should give it a chance to express its views "more strongly" in the United Nations Security Council. He also famously held that "whatever floats is fine, whatever rolls is not" to sum up Germany's military export policy for restless countries – based on a navy's unsuitability for use against a country's own people.[http://www.dw.com/en/germany-debates-weapons-exports-amid-iraq-exception/a-17875033 Germany debates weapons exports amid Iraq 'exception'] Deutsche Welle, 25 August 2014.

In 1992, Genscher, together with his Danish colleague Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, took the initiative to create the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) and the EuroFaculty.Gustav N Kristensen, Born into a Dream. EuroFaculty and the Council of the Baltic Sea States, Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag 2010, {{ISBN|978-3-8305-1769-6}}.

More than half a century after Nazi leaders assembled their infamous exhibition "Degenerate Art", a sweeping condemnation of the work of the avant-garde, Genscher opened a re-creation of the show at the Altes Museum in March 1992, describing Nazi attempts to restrict artistic expression as "a step toward the catastrophe that produced the mass murder of European Jews and the war of extermination against Germany's neighbors." "The paintings in this exhibition have survived oppression and censorship", he asserted in his opening remarks. "They are not only a monument but also a sign of hope. They stand for the triumph of creative freedom over barbarism."Stephen Kinzer (5 March 1992), [https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/05/arts/nazi-show-of-bad-art-reopens-in-berlin.html Nazi Show Of 'Bad' Art Reopens In Berlin] The New York Times.

On 18 May 1992, Genscher retired at his own request from the federal government, which he had been member of for a total of 23 years. At the time, he was the world's longest-serving foreign minister and Germany's most popular politician.Ian Johnson (28 April 1992), [https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1992-04-28-1992119055-story.html] The Baltimore Sun. He had announced his decision three weeks earlier, on 27 April 1992. Genscher did not specify his reasons for quitting; however, he had suffered two heart attacks by that time. His resignation took effect in May, but he remained a member of parliament and continued to be influential in the Free Democratic Party.

Following Genscher's resignation, Chancellor Helmut Kohl and FDP chairman Otto Graf Lambsdorff named Irmgard Schwaetzer, a former aide to Genscher, to be the new Foreign Minister. In a surprise decision, however, a majority of the FDP parliamentary group rejected her nomination and voted instead to name Justice Minister Klaus Kinkel to head the Foreign Ministry.Stephen Kinzer (29 April 1992), [https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/29/world/party-in-bonn-rebels-on-genscher-s-successor.html Party in Bonn Rebels on Genscher's Successor] The New York Times.

File:Genscher-19-09-2013.jpg

Ahead of the German presidential election in 1994, Genscher proclaimed his lack of interest in the position, but was nonetheless widely considered a leading contender. After a poll taken for Stern magazine showed him to be the favored candidate of 48 percent of German voters, he reiterated in 1993 that he would "in no case" accept the presidency.Stephen Kinzer (27 March 1993), [https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/27/world/germany-considers-jew-as-president.html Germany Considers Jew as President] The New York Times.

Having finished his political career, Genscher remained active as a lawyer and in international organizations. In late 1992, Genscher was appointed chairman of a newly established donors' board of the Berlin State Opera.John Rockwell (12 December 1992), [https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/12/arts/new-start-for-an-old-opera-in-berlin.html New Start for an Old Opera in Berlin] The New York Times. Between 1997 and 2010, Genscher was affiliated with the law firm Büsing, Müffelmann & Theye.{{cite web|title=Kanzlei: Feine, juristische Lösungen. Seit 1961.|url=http://www.bmt.eu/pl/kanzlei/historie.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418090748/http://www.bmt.eu/pl/kanzlei/historie.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 April 2016|publisher=Büsing, Müffelmann & Theye|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de}} He founded his own consulting firm, Hans-Dietrich Genscher Consult GmbH, in 2000. Between 2001 and 2003, he served as president of the German Council on Foreign Relations.{{cite web|title=Hans-Dietrich Genscher 1927 – 2016|url=https://www.hdg.de/lemo/biografie/hans-dietrich-genscher.html|website=Lebendiges Museum Online|publisher=Haus der Deutschen Geschichte|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de}} In 2001, Genscher headed an arbitration that ended a monthlong battle between German airline Lufthansa and its pilots' union and resulted in an agreement on increasing wages by more than 15 percent by the end of the following year.Edmund L. Andrews (9 June 2001), [https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/09/business/world-business-briefing-europe-germany-airline-agreement.html Germany: Airline Agreement] The New York Times.

In 2008, Genscher joined former Czech President Václav Havel, former United States Ambassador to Germany John Kornblum and several other well-known political figures in calling for a Cold War museum to be built at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin.Mark Waffel (17 June 2008), [http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/safeguarding-the-past-in-berlin-political-heavyweights-call-for-cold-war-museum-a-560192.html Safeguarding the Past in Berlin: Political Heavyweights Call for Cold War Museum] Spiegel Online. In 2009 Genscher expressed public concern at Pope Benedict XVI's lifting of excommunication of the bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X. Genscher wrote in the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung: "Poles can be proud of Pope John Paul II. At the last papal election, we said We are the pope! But please—not like this."[http://www.mz-web.de/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=ksta/page&atype=ksArtikel&aid=1229852995685&openMenu=1013016724415&calledPageId=1013016724415&listid=1018881578341 Wir Sind Papst – aber bitte nicht so!] Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, 2 February 2009. He argued that Pope Benedict XVI was making a habit of offending non-Catholics. "This is a deep moral and political question. It is about respect for the victims of crimes against humanity", Genscher said.{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1061193.html|title=German-born pope under fire in his homeland over tolerance of Holocaust denial|work=Haaretz|date=3 February 2009}}

On 20 December 2013, it was revealed that Genscher played a key role in coordinating the release and flight to Germany of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of Yukos. Genscher had first met Khodorkovsky in 2002 and had chaired a conference at which Khodorkovsky blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin's pursuit of his oil company.{{Cite news|last1=Benoit|first1=Bertrand|last2=Troianovski|first2=Anton|author-link2=Anton Troianovski|last3=White|first3=Gregory L.|date=22 December 2013|title=Germany Led Talks to Free Russian Tycoon|language=en|work=The Wall Street Journal|location=Berlin|url=https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304475004579274440852427968.html|url-access=subscription|issn=0099-9660}} Khodorkovsky asked his lawyers during a 2011 prison visit to let Genscher help mediate early release. Once Putin was re-elected in 2012, German Chancellor Angela Merkel instructed her officials to lobby for the president to meet Genscher.Arkady Ostrovsky (23 December 2013), [https://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2013/12/mikhail-khodorkovsky-0 Mikhail Khodorkovsky: In from the cold] The Economist. The subsequent negotiations involved two meetings between Genscher and Putin – one at Berlin Tegel Airport at the end of Putin's first visit to Germany after he was re-elected in 2012, the other in Moscow. While keeping the chancellor informed, Khodorkovsky's attorneys and Genscher spent the ensuing months developing a variety of legal avenues that could allow Putin to release his former rival early, ranging from amendments to existing laws to clemency. When Khodorkovsky's mother was in a Berlin hospital with cancer in November 2013, Genscher passed a message to Khodorkovsky suggesting the prisoner should write a pardon letter to Putin emphasizing his mother's ill health.Michelle Martin and Lidia Kelly (26 December 2013), [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-khodorkovsky-idUSBRE9BP0C420131226 Inside Germany's campaign to free Khodorkovsky] Reuters. Following Putin's pardoning of Khodorkovsky "for humanitarian reasons" in December 2013, a private plane provided by Genscher brought Khodorkovsky to Berlin for a family reunion at the Hotel Adlon.Alison Smale (23 December 2013), [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/24/world/europe/deep-ties-between-russia-and-germany-on-display-in-prisoners-release.html Deep Russia-Germany Ties Behind a Prisoner's Release] The New York Times.

Genscher signed on in 2014 to be a member of the Southern Corridor Advisory Panel, a BP-led consortium which includes former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Peter Sutherland, chairman of Goldman Sachs International.Guy Chazan (17 July 2014), [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/28b699ae-0d9f-11e4-815f-00144feabdc0.html Tony Blair to advise on Azerbaijan gas project] Financial Times. The panel's purpose is to facilitate the expansion of a vast natural-gas field in the Caspian Sea and the building of two pipelines across Europe. The $45 billion enterprise, championed by the Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliyev, has been called by critics "the Blair Rich Project".Sarah Ellison (January 2015), [https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/01/tony-blair-profile The Which Blair Project] Vanity Fair.

Genscher died at his home outside Bonn in Wachtberg on 31 March 2016 from heart failure, 10 days after his 89th birthday.{{cite news|title=Former German foreign minister Genscher dies at 89|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/former-german-foreign-minister-genscher-dies-at-89/2016/04/01/cd0f5408-f7f6-11e5-958d-d038dac6e718_story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401200616/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/former-german-foreign-minister-genscher-dies-at-89/2016/04/01/cd0f5408-f7f6-11e5-958d-d038dac6e718_story.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 April 2016|agency=Washington Post|date=1 April 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/02/world/europe/hans-dietrich-genscher-germany-dies.html?_r=0|title=Hans-Dietrich Genscher, an Architect of German Reunification, Dies at 89|work=The New York Times|access-date=1 April 2016|date=1 April 2016}}

• CARE Deutschland-Luxemburg, Chairman of the Board of Trustees{{cite web|title=Verwaltungsrat|url=https://www.care.de/ueber-care/care-team/verwaltungsrat/|publisher=CARE Deutschland-Luxemburg e.V.|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de|archive-date=15 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415024422/https://www.care.de/ueber-care/care-team/verwaltungsrat/|url-status=dead}}
• Club of Budapest, Honorary Member{{cite web|title=Club of Budapest|url=http://www.clubofbudapest.org/clubofbudapest/index.php/en/|publisher=Club of Budapest|access-date=1 April 2016}}
• German-Azerbaijani Forum, Honorary Chairman{{cite web|title=Kuratorium|url=http://da-forum.net/?page_id=359|publisher=Deutsch-Aserbaidschanisches Forum|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de}}
• German-Polish Society (DPG), Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees{{cite web|title=Kuratorium|url=http://www.dpg-bundesverband.de/kuratorium.html|publisher=Deutsch-Polnische Gesellschaft Bundesverband e.V.|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de|archive-date=2 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402071249/http://www.dpg-bundesverband.de/kuratorium.html|url-status=dead}}
• Baltic Development Forum, Member of the Honorary Board{{cite web|title=Organisation|url=http://www.bdforum.org/about-us/organisation/|publisher=Baltic Development Forum|access-date=1 April 2016}}
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für die Vereinten Nationen, Member of the Board of Trustees{{cite news|last1=Matthies|first1=Bernd|title=Hans-Dietrich Genscher und seine spezielle Beziehung zu Berlin|url=http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/zum-tode-des-fdp-politikers-hans-dietrich-genscher-und-seine-spezielle-beziehung-zu-berlin/13392628.html|newspaper=Tagesspiegel|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de|date=1 April 2016}}
• Dimitris Tsatsos Institute for European Constitutional Law at the FernUniversität Hagen, Member of the Board of Trustees[https://www.fernuni-hagen.de/dtiev/kuratorium.shtml Members of the Board of Trustees] Dimitris Tsatsos Institute for European Constitutional Law at the FernUniversität Hagen.
• EastWest Institute, Chairman Emeritus{{cite web|title=Hans-Dietrich Genscher|url=http://www.eastwest.ngo/profile/hans-dietrich-genscher|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411231720/http://www.eastwest.ngo/profile/hans-dietrich-genscher|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 April 2016|publisher=EastWest Institute|access-date=1 April 2016}}
• ELSA Deutschland, Member of the Advisory Board (1993–2008){{cite web|title=Beirat|url=https://www.elsa-germany.org/de/partner/beirat/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416194552/https://www.elsa-germany.org/de/partner/beirat/|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 April 2016|publisher=ELSA Deutschland|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de}}
• Foundation Wittenberg-Center for Global Ethics, Member of the Board of Trustees{{cite web|title=Wittenberg Center for Global Ethics: The WCGE grieves the loss of Hans-Dietrich Genscher|url=http://www.wcge.org/index_en.php|publisher=Wittenberg Center for Global Ethics|access-date=1 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401164443/http://www.wcge.org/index_en.php |archive-date=1 April 2016}}
• Bonner Akademie für Forschung und Lehre praktischer Politik (BAPP), Member of the Board of Trustees{{cite web|title=Kuratorium|url=http://www.bapp-bonn.de/die-akademie/kuratorium|publisher=Bonner Akademie für Forschung und Lehre praktischer Politik|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de}}
• Ilsenburg Abbey, Patron{{cite web|title=Vorstand und Kuratoriumsmitglieder|url=http://www.klosterilsenburg.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9&Itemid=14&lang=de|publisher=Kloster Ilsenburg|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de|archive-date=21 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321025216/http://www.klosterilsenburg.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9&Itemid=14&lang=de|url-status=dead}}
• Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Honorary Chairman of the Board of Trustees[http://vff.uni-halle.de/816_123055/ Kuratorium] Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg.
• University of Bonn, Member of the Board of Trustees[https://www.uni-bonn.de/die-universitaet/informationsquellen/presseinformationen/2003/462 Neues Kuratorium an der Universität] University of Bonn, press release of 17 December 2003.
• A Soul for Europe initiative, Member of the Board of Trustees
• Gedächtnis der Nation project, Member of the Board of Trustees

Genscher has been awarded honorary citizenship by his birthplace Halle (Saale) (in 1991) and the city of Berlin (in 1993).{{cite web|title=Müller zum Tod von Hans-Dietrich Genscher: "Berlin dankt dem Ehrenbürger und Staatsmann"|url=https://www.berlin.de/rbmskzl/aktuelles/pressemitteilungen/2016/pressemitteilung.464758.php|website=berlin.de|publisher=Der Regierende Bürgermeister des Landes Berlin|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de|date=1 April 2016|archive-date=6 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406075108/http://www.berlin.de/rbmskzl/aktuelles/pressemitteilungen/2016/pressemitteilung.464758.php|url-status=dead}}

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

• 1973 and 1975 – Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany{{cite web|title=Hans-Dietrich Genscher|url=http://www.wiwo.de/koepfe-der-wirtschaft/hans-dietrich-genscher/5286366.html|publisher=Wirtschaftswoche|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de|archive-date=25 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325134307/http://www.wiwo.de/koepfe-der-wirtschaft/hans-dietrich-genscher/5286366.html|url-status=dead}}
• 1986 – Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour
• 1987 – Grand Cross of the Ordem do Mérito
• 1987 – Honorary Citizen of Costa Rica
• 1990 – Prince of Asturias Award{{cite journal|last1=Kiessler|first1=Richard|title=Ein Mann, der sich überlebt|journal=Der Spiegel|date=12 November 1990|issue=46/1990|pages=28–31|url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-13503287.html|language=de}}
• 1992 – Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
• 1992 – Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary
• 1996 – Order of Duke Trpimir (Croatia){{Cite web|url=http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/263803.html|title = Odluka o odlikovanju Hansa Dietricha Genschera Redom kneza Trpimira s ogrlicom i Danicom}}
• 1998 – Honorary doctorate of Tbilisi State University{{cite web |url=https://tsu.ge/assets/media/files/42/International%20–%20Goals%20and%20Achievements/TSU.Hon.Doctors_2020-1918_EN.xlsx.pdf |title=Honorary Doctorates awarded by Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University since 1918 |publisher=Tbilisi State University |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028110427/https://tsu.ge/assets/media/files/42/International%20–%20Goals%20and%20Achievements/TSU.Hon.Doctors_2020-1918_EN.xlsx.pdf |archivedate=2023-10-28 |accessdate=2023-10-28 }}
• 2002 – Honorary doctorate of the University of Szczecin
• 2003 – Honorary doctorate of Leipzig University
• 2004 – Erich-Kästner-Preis
• 2006 – Peace Prize of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation
• 2007 – Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia
• 2008 – Walther Rathenau-Preis
• 2010 – Order of Merit of Saxony-Anhalt{{cite web|title=Genscher mit Verdienstorden des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt gewürdigt|url=http://www.lvz.de/Mitteldeutschland/News/Genscher-mit-Verdienstorden-des-Landes-Sachsen-Anhalt-gewuerdigt|publisher=Leipziger Volkszeitung|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de|date=11 September 2010|archive-date=16 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416161022/http://www.lvz.de/Mitteldeutschland/News/Genscher-mit-Verdienstorden-des-Landes-Sachsen-Anhalt-gewuerdigt|url-status=dead}}
• 2010 – Millennium Bambi Award
• 2015 – Henry A. Kissinger Prize of the American Academy in Berlin (along with Giorgio Napolitano){{cite web|title=Henry A. Kissinger Prize|url=http://www.americanacademy.de/de/home/about-us/kissinger-prize|publisher=The American Academy in Berlin|access-date=1 April 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912234645/http://www.americanacademy.de/de/home/about-us/kissinger-prize|archive-date=12 September 2015}}
• 2015 – [https://web.archive.org/web/20161020080848/https://www.nachhaltigkeitspreis.de/category/preistraeger/006_ehrenpreistraeger/#intern The National German Sustainability Award]
• 2020 – The 20th Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award along with Markus Meckel, Ivan Havel and [https://www.memoryofnations.eu/en/chvatik-ivan-1941 Ivan Chvatik] commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain (jointly awarded by The Prague Society and Global Panel Foundation)

{{div col end}}

• Die Rolle Europas im Kontext der Globalisierung, in: Robertson-von Trotha, Caroline Y. (ed.): Herausforderung Demokratie. Demokratisch, parlamentarisch, gut? (= Kulturwissenschaft interdisziplinär/Interdisciplinary Studies on Culture and Society, Vol. 6), Baden-Baden 2011, {{ISBN|978-3-8329-5816-9}}
• (Hrsg.): Nach vorn gedacht … Perspektiven deutscher Aussenpolitik. Bonn Aktuell, Stuttgart 1987, {{ISBN|3-87959-290-X}}.
• Zukunftsverantwortung. Reden. Buchverlag Der Morgen, Berlin 1990, {{ISBN|3-371-00312-4}}.
• Unterwegs zur Einheit. Reden und Dokumente aus bewegter Zeit. Siedler, Berlin 1991, {{ISBN|3-88680-408-9}}.
• Wir wollen ein europäisches Deutschland. Siedler, Berlin 1991, Goldmann 1992 {{ISBN|3-442-12839-0}}.
• Politik aus erster Hand. Kolumnen des Bundesaußenministers a. D. Hans-Dietrich Genscher in der Nordsee-Zeitung Bremerhaven. Nordwestdeutsche Verlags-Gesellschaft, Bremerhaven 1992, {{ISBN|3-927857-36-X}}.
• Kommentare. ECON-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Düsseldorf/Wien 1994, {{ISBN|3-612-26185-1}}.
• Erinnerungen. Siedler, Berlin 1995, {{ISBN|3-88680-453-4}}; Goldmann, München 1997, {{ISBN|3-442-12759-9}}.
• Sternstunde der Deutschen. Hans-Dietrich Genscher im Gespräch mit Ulrich Wickert. Mit sechs Beiträgen. Hohenheim, Stuttgart/Leipzig 2000, {{ISBN|3-89850-011-X}}.
• Die Chance der Deutschen. Ein Gesprächsbuch. Hans-Dietrich Genscher im Gespräch mit Guido Knopp. Pendo, München 2008, {{ISBN|978-3-86612-190-4}}.
• Die Rolle Europas im Kontext der Globalisierung, in: Caroline Y. Robertson-von Trotha (Hrsg.): Herausforderung Demokratie. Demokratisch, {{proper name|parlamentarisch}}, gut? (= Kulturwissenschaft interdisziplinär/Interdisciplinary Studies on Culture and Society, Bd. 6), Baden-Baden 2011, {{ISBN|978-3-8329-5816-9}}.
• Zündfunke aus Prag. Wie 1989 der Mut zur Freiheit die Geschichte veränderte, mit Karel Vodička. dtv, München 2014, {{ISBN|978-3-423-28047-1}}.
• Meine Sicht der Dinge. Im Gespräch mit Hans-Dieter Heumann. Propyläen, Berlin, 2015, {{ISBN|978-3-549-07464-0}}.

{{Commons}}

• Politics of Germany
• History of Germany since 1945

{{Reflist}}

• Wilsford, David, ed. Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary (Greenwood, 1995) pp. 155–64.

• Bresselau von Bressensdorf, Agnes: Frieden durch Kommunikation. Das System Genscher und die Entspannungspolitik im Zweiten Kalten Krieg 1979–1982/83. Berlin, De Gruyter Oldenbourg 2015, {{ISBN|3-11-040464-8}}.
• Brauckhoff, Kerstin, Schwaetzer, Ingrid (Hrsg.): Hans-Dietrich Genschers Außenpolitik. Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2015, {{ISBN|978-3-658-06650-5}}.
• Heumann, Hans-Dieter: Hans-Dietrich Genscher. Die Biografie. Schöningh, Paderborn 2012, {{ISBN|978-3-506-77037-0}}.
• Lucas, Hans-Dieter (Hrsg.): Genscher, Deutschland und Europa. Nomos-Verlag, Baden-Baden 2002, {{ISBN|3-7890-7816-6}}.
• Mittag, Jürgen: {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118111035/http://www.europaeische-bewegung.de/index.php?id=8548#c27788 |date=18 January 2012 |title=Vom Honoratiorenkreis zum Europanetzwerk: Sechs Jahrzehnte Europäische Bewegung Deutschland. }} In: 60 Jahre Europäische Bewegung Deutschland, Berlin 2009, S. 12–28.
• Gerhard A. Ritter: Hans-Dietrich Genscher, das Auswärtige Amt und die deutsche Vereinigung. Beck, München 2013, {{ISBN|3-406-64495-3}}.

• {{C-SPAN|8883}}

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