Theodor Anton Blank (19 September 1905 – 14 May 1972) was a German politician of the CDU. He was one of the founders of the CDU in 1945.

Theodor Blank
Blank as Minister of Defence
Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs
(West Germany)
In office
29 October 1957 – 26 October 1965
ChancellorKonrad Adenauer
Preceded byAnton Storch
Succeeded byHans Katzer
Federal Minister of Defence
(West Germany)
In office
7 June 1955 – 16 October 1956
ChancellorKonrad Adenauer
Succeeded byFranz Josef Strauss
Deputy Chairman of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group in the Bundestag
(West Germany)
In office
19 October 1965 – 20 October 1969
Member of the Bundestag
(West Germany)
In office
7 September 1949 – 21 April 1972
Personal details
Born(1905-09-19)19 September 1905
Elz, Hesse-Nassau, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Died14 May 1972(1972-05-14) (aged 66)
Bonn, West Germany
NationalityGerman
Political partyCDU (1945 until his death)
Alma materLeibniz University Hannover

Blank was born in Elz an der Lahn. He was the third of ten children of a carpenter. His family was Roman Catholic. Blank received an apprenticeship as a carpenter. In 1930–33 he worked as a secretary at the Association of Christian transport- and factory employees of the northern and northwestern Ruhr Area. After he was dismissed in 1933 Blank passed his Abitur in 1936 and studied mathematics at the University of Münster and engineering sciences at Leibniz University Hannover.[1] In 1939 he was conscripted to the Wehrmacht and became a first lieutenant at the end of World War II.[2]

From 1949 to 1972 he was a member of the German Bundestag, in which he served from 1965 to 1969 as deputy chief of CDU/CSU-Bundestagsfraktion.[2]

Blank (center) with Bundeswehr Generals Hans Speidel and Adolf Heusinger

From 1950 to 1955 he served as Special Representative of the Chancellor, leading the "Amt Blank" (Blank Agency), officially responsible for affairs relating to the Allied occupying troops, but in reality mainly charged by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer with covertly preparing the re-establishment of the German armed forces. In 1954, opponents of the rearmament prevented him from speaking to public assemblies by yelling and shouting, and lightly wounded him in one instance. After the rearmament was official, he served as the first postwar Defence Minister of Germany from 1955 to 1956 and as Minister of Labour and Social Affairs from 1957 to 1965.[2]

Blank died in Bonn.[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ Biography at BmVg.de (in German)
  2. ^ a b c d Biography at hdg.de (in German)
Political offices
Preceded by
(none)
Federal Minister of Defence (Germany)
1955 – 1956
Succeeded by