Hans von der Groeben

Who was Hans von der Groeben?

Hans von der Groeben was a German diplomat, scientist and journalist and member of the European Commission.

Von der Groeben was born in Langheim near Rastenburg, East Prussia.

A son of landowner Georg von der Groeben and Eva von Mirbach, he studied jurisprudence and political economics at the Universities of Berlin, Bonn and Göttingen. After the state exams he became a government advisor in 1933 at the Ministry of Nutrition and in 1937 transferred to his final advisory position for credit and cooperatives.

For periods during the Second World War he served as a reserve in the armed forces, ending up as a first lieutenant. After the war he became a director of government in the Treasury of Lower Saxony. Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Ludwig Erhard recruited him from there to work on Germany's response to the Schuman Declaration for better Franco-German relations. From 1953 he represented the Federal Government in the coordinating committee of the European Coal and Steel Community.

He ranks among the fathers of the European Union, he was one of the authors of the Spaak Report, calling for the establishment of the European Economic Community.