Product Code Database
Liselotte Funcke (20 July 19181 August 2012) was a German liberal politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). 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 ( Ausländerbeauftragte) from 1981 to 1991, and afterwards.
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. Funcke 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.
Funcke served as state (Wirtschaft, Mittelstand und Verkehr) 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 (Federal Commissioner for Foreigners) from 1981 to 1991, working for the federal government for the integration of foreigners and their families, again 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 with them; it earned her the respectful name Mutter der Türken (Mother of the Turks), and she continued to serve their interests in public after her official term.
Funcke died in Hagen at the age of 94.
|
|
