Erhard Eppler

Erhard Eppler (1926–2019) was a German politician and author. Born in Ulm, he studied German, English and history, earned a doctorate in 1951, and worked as a teacher until 1961. He joined the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1956 and served in the German Bundestag from 1961 to 1976, followed by membership in the Baden-Württemberg state parliament until 1982. From 1968 to 1974, Eppler was Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation. Within the SPD, he served on the party executive and chaired its Commission on Fundamental Values from 1973 to 1992. He was also active in the Protestant Church in Germany and served several times as president of the German Protestant Kirchentag. His 1975 book “Ende oder Wende” drew early attention to the ecological crisis. In 2006, “Auslaufmodell Staat” received the Friedrich Ebert Foundation’s German Political Book Award.