Joschka Fischer

The Green Foreign Minister

by Paul A. Schons

(Originally published by the Germanic-American Institute in June, 1999)

With the rise of the SPD/Green coalition to power in Germany Joschka Fischer achieved the highest position in government ever held by a member of his party, that of foreign minister (Außenminister) and vice chancellor (Vizekanzler). A leader in the Green Party since its beginnings, Fischer has changed from the young political leader often attired in a pullover and who once defiantly took his oath of office wearing tennis shoes and jeans to an international diplomat who is most often seen publicly with a tailored suit and tie. The young political star who led his party in its demands for stringent environmental reform, world peace and withdrawal from NATO, joined in 1999 in committing German troops to their first combat role since 1945 and directing the German position in NATO in the bombing of Serbia. The long standing leader of the environmentalist party finds himself more and more frequently in conflict with the more fundamentalist Green leader and current federal minister of the environment, Jürgen Trittin.

Joschka Fischer (legal name Joseph) was born in Baden-Württemberg on April 12, 1948. His father was a small town butcher. Fischer broke off formal education after the 10th grade. At age 19 he married his first wife and the couple moved to Frankfurt. Before entering politics he worked as a painter, a taxi driver and a book dealer. Like many young people in the late 60s and 70s he was alienated, developed a fascination with Marxism and was involved in demonstrations against the "establishment". He became a member of the young Green Party in 1982. (The Green Party had been founded two years earlier.) Political activity allowed the leadership abilities of the young man to flourish. He rose rapidly in the party and in 1983 became a member of the German Parliament (Bundestag).

Fischer's first marriage lasted only until 1984 when he was divorced and remarried. The second marriage was to last for three years. In 1987 he married for the third time. That marriage proved to be much more stable. He remained married to his third wife, Claudia Bohn, until 1996. In a move which surprised many, Fischer, now 51 and the foreign minister married the 29 year old journalist Nicola Leske in 1999. He had met her when she was an intern to the Green Party in the Parliament.

In 1985 the 37 year old politician left the federal parliament and became the minister of the environment and energy in the state of Hesse (Hessen). He remained active in state affairs (but with wide ranging influence in his party nationally) until 1994 when he again returned to the Bundestag, now as the parliamentary spokesman of his party. He was installed as the federal foreign minister and vice chancellor on the 27th of October, 1998.

Fischer's earliest inspiration to political action came from Minnesota. It was Minnesotan, Bob Dylon's song "Blowing in the Wind" which as Fischer remembers, "…was for me almost a spiritual matter, it pushed me out into the wide world." (Das war für mich fast ein spiritueller Akt, es trieb mich hinaus in die weite Welt.)

The foreign minister is noted for a quick sense of humor. Asked before the election if he had ever smoked marijuana (a question once asked of William Clinton before an election), Fischer responded immediately in English, "I did it, and I inhaled--and it was nice." He continued quickly in German, "…heute bin ich ganz auf Mineralwasser abgefahren." (Today I have turned totally to mineral water.) He does, however, make it clear that he favors the legalization of marijuana. Asked prior to the election what superior qualifications he had to the foreign minister in the Kohl cabinet he answered, "Ich spreche das bessere schwäbisch." (I speak better Swabian.)

In the matter of religion, Fischer declares himself to be a non-believer and yet religious, for he says that human reason can not explain the end of individual existence nor the existence of the world. In any case he says that he does not believe in a bearded man in heaven.

Since election of a liberal government there has been concern in various ways in Germany that the SPD/Green coalition might take a further step to the left and seek a partnership with the PDS (the post-unification form of the communist party of old East Germany, the SED). Once asked his thoughts on a leftist party such as the PDS, Fischer responded quickly, "PDS ist nicht links, sondern erzkonservativ. Links heißt Freiheit und Gerechtigkeit. Wo bitte galt das für die DDR, für die SED, für die PDS?" (The PDS is not leftist but rather archconservative. Left means freedom and justice. When did that ever apply to East Germany, the SED or the PDS?)