Hans Filbinger

Who was Hans Filbinger?

Hans Karl Filbinger was a conservative German politician and a leading member of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union in the 1960s and 1970s, serving as the first chairman of the CDU Baden-Württemberg and vice chairman of the federal CDU. He was Minister President of Baden-Württemberg from 1966 to 1978 and as such also chaired the Bundesrat in 1973/74. He had to resign as minister president and party chairman after allegations about his role as a navy lawyer and judge in the Second World War. While the CDU Baden-Württemberg elected him honorary chairman—a position he held until his death—, he remained a controversial figure. He also founded the conservative think tank Studienzentrum Weikersheim, which he chaired until 1997.