Liselotte Funcke


Liselotte Funcke was a German liberal politician of the Free Democratic Party. She was a member of the German Bundestag parliament from 1961 to 1979, serving as its vice president from 1969. She then was appointed state Minister of Economy in North Rhine-Westphalia, the first woman in the position. Funcke is remembered for her engagements to integrate foreigners in German society, as the Federal Commissioner for Foreigners from 1981 to 1991, and afterwards.

Life

Funcke was born in Hagen to a family with liberal orientation, the forth child of a factory owner. Her father was member of the board and president of the Reichsverbandes der Deutschen Industrie from 1919 to 1933, and became a member of the Bundestag for the FDP in the 1950s. Her mother came from the Osthaus family of bankers. She attended the Realgymnasium, where she achieved the Abitur in 1937. She served in the Arbeitsdienst and attended the Kaufmannsschule Dortmund. She then studied Betriebswirtschaftslehre in Berlin, where she took the diploma in 1941. She worked for three years for a Wirtschaftsprüfer in Wuppertal, she was from 1944 responsible for balance, taxes and finace in the companany Schraubenfabrik und Gesenkeschmiede Funcke & Hueck which her great-grandfather had founded in Hagen.
Funcke's political career began after World War II, joining the FDP in 1946. She was a member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament from 1950 to 1961, when she was elected to the German Bundestag. She was the parliament's vice-president from 1969 to 1979. From 1972 to 1979 she was chairman of the Bundestag's Finance Committee, having already been its deputy chairman from 1965 to 1969.
She served as state in North Rhine-Westphalia from 1979, the first woman in the position. She had to leave the post a year later because her party was no longer part of the Landtag. She was the from 1981 to 1991, working for the federal government for the integration of foreigners and their families, again as the first woman to hold the position. She understood the position as "interpreter" of the problems of the foreigners, especially the large group of Turkish workers who brought their families. It earned her the respectful name Mutter der Türken ". She served their interests in public after her official term.
Liselotte Funcke died in Hagen at age 94.

Publications