Philipp Jenninger

Phillipp Jenninger, whose full name is Philipp-Hariolf Jenninger, was born in 1932 in Rindelbach, now a part of Ellwangen. He studied law at the University of Tübingen, obtaining a doctoral degree in 1957 with a dissertation titled Die Reformbedürftigkeit des Bundesverfassungsgerichts (The necessity of reform of the Federal Constitutional Court) and passing the state examination in 1959. In 1960, he started working in the Bundeswehr administration in Stuttgart. He became an assistant in the Federal Ministry of Defense and later personal assistant and press contact of {{ill|Federal Minister for the Affairs of the Defence Council|de|Bundesministerium für die Angelegenheiten des Bundesverteidigungsrates}} Heinrich Krone. After the dissolution of this ministry, he worked from 1966 to 1969 as political assistant of Federal Minister of Finance Franz Josef Strauß.

Between 1982 and 1984, Jenninger served as Minister of State at the German Chancellery, under Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

Jenninger was a member of the Bundestag from 1969 to 1990, always as directly elected representative of a constituency. At first, he represented {{ill|Crailsheim District|lt=Crailsheim|de|Bundestagswahlkreis Crailsheim}}; after 1976, he represented Schwäbisch Hall.

After Rainer Barzel's resignation, Jenninger was elected President of the Bundestag on 5 November 1984. As President, he made a controversial speech in a special session on 10 November 1988 commemorating the 50th anniversary of Kristallnacht.Bonn (North Rhine-Westphalia): newspaper clippings, transcript of speech by Philipp Jenninger, Speaker of the West German Parliament, 1988; [http://digital.cjh.org/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=475710 November Pogrom, 1938 Commemoration Collection]; AR 6342; Box 1; Folder 11; Leo Baeck Institute. Jenninger tried to explain the reasons behind German enthusiasm for National Socialism in the 1930s. His speech was presented badly (by his own later admission), as his way of speaking allowed the interpretation that Jenninger didn't sufficiently dissociate himself from the Nazi ideas he referred to, making it hard to distinguish what were his own ideas and what were the "fascinating" (as Jenninger said) Nazi ideas he was just reporting.American Jewish Committee, [http://ajcarchives.org/AJC_DATA/Files/1990_9_CentralEurope.pdf American Jewish Yearbook Vol. 90] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927213231/http://ajcarchives.org/AJC_DATA/Files/1990_9_CentralEurope.pdf |date=2007-09-27 }}, 1990, p. 358. More than 50 members of parliament walked out during their President's speech in protest.The New York Times, November 13, 1988, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE3DD173EF930A25752C1A96E948260 Storm of Protest] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228084811/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE3DD173EF930A25752C1A96E948260 |date=2007-12-28 }}. This caused a political storm, and Jenninger resigned his Bundestag presidency on 11 November. He did not stand for reelection as a Bundestag member in the 1990 elections. One year after the incident, Jewish community leader Ignatz Bubis, who later became chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, used several passages of Jenninger's speech verbatim (although he didn't use the word "fascinating"), demonstrating that the content of Jenninger's speech had not been ambiguous, just his performance of it.Peter Schmalz, [https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article664397/Keiner_hat_etwas_gemerkt.html "Keiner hat etwas gemerkt"], Die Welt'', 1 December 1995. {{in lang|de}}

Jenninger served as German ambassador to Vienna, Austria from 1991 to 1995, and as ambassador to the Holy See from 1995 to 1997.

Philipp Jenninger was President of the European Movement in Germany from 1985 to 1990, and has since been their honorary President. He was a member of the presidium of Studienzentrum Weikersheim.

Jenninger died on 4 January 2018 in Stuttgart, aged 85.{{Cite news |url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/philipp-jenninger-ex-bundestagspraesident-im-alter-von-85-jahren-gestorben-a-1186488.html |title=Philipp Jenninger: Ex-Bundestagspräsident im Alter von 85 Jahren gestorben - SPIEGEL ONLINE |newspaper=Der Spiegel |date=5 January 2018 |access-date=2019-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180414064702/http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/philipp-jenninger-ex-bundestagspraesident-im-alter-von-85-jahren-gestorben-a-1186488.html |archive-date=2018-04-14 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/frueherer-bundestagspraesident-philipp-jenninger-gestorben-15376180.html |title=Früherer Bundestagspräsident Philipp Jenninger gestorben |newspaper=Faz.net |access-date=2019-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180309145525/https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/frueherer-bundestagspraesident-philipp-jenninger-gestorben-15376180.html |archive-date=2018-03-09 |url-status=live }}

• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (1986)

{{Reflist}}

• Michael F. Feldkamp (ed.), Der Bundestagspräsident. Amt - Funktion - Person. 16. Wahlperiode, München 2007, {{ISBN|978-3-7892-8201-0}}
• Jürgen Mittag: "Vom Honoratiorenkreis zum Europanetzwerk: Sechs Jahrzehnte Europäische Bewegung Deutschland"; in: 60 Jahre Europäische Bewegung Deutschland; Berlin 2009; pp. 12–28
• Jeffrey Herf: "Philipp Jenninger and the Dangers of Speaking Clearly." Partisan Review 56 (1989): 225–236.

• {{DNB portal|11886646X|TYP=}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061214140506/http://www.bundestag.de/parlament/praesidium/btpraes/jenninger.html Biography] at the Bundestag website {{in lang|de}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070603111504/https://www.mediaculture-online.de/Politische_oeffentliche_Reden.813+M5a5246f6814.0.html German text of Jenninger's 1988 speech], also as audio version {{in lang|de}}

{{BundestagPresidents}}

{{Members of the 10th Bundestag}}{{Members of the 11th Bundestag}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenninger, Philipp}}

Category:1932 births

Category:2018 deaths

Category:People from Ellwangen

Category:German Roman Catholics

Category:Presidents of the Bundestag

Category:Ambassadors of Germany to Austria

Category:Ambassadors of Germany to the Holy See

Category:Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts

Category:Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Category:Members of the Bundestag for Baden-Württemberg

Category:Members of the Bundestag 1987–1990

Category:Members of the Bundestag 1983–1987

Category:Members of the Bundestag 1980–1983

Category:Members of the Bundestag 1976–1980

Category:Members of the Bundestag 1972–1976

Category:Members of the Bundestag 1969–1972

Category:Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany