Egon Bahr - Other Public Offices

Other Public Offices

From 1960 to 1966, Bahr was the head of the Press and Information Office for the Land of Berlin (at that time, West Berlin). In that capacity, Bahr served as the spokesman for the Senate of Berlin, which was led at that time by Mayor Willy Brandt. From 1966 to 1969, Bahr served as an ambassador and as Ministerial Director of the Planning Staff of the German Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt).

Bahr is considered to have been one of the most important and most influential advisors of Willy Brandt, especially with respect to the latter’s policy of Ostpolitik (“Eastern Policy”, also known as “‘’Entspannungspolitik’’”, the German equivalent of "détente").

Following the West German federal election of 1969, Bahr became Secretary of State of the German Chancellery as well as Bevollmächtigter (“commissioner” or “appointed representative”) of the Federal Cabinet of Germany in Berlin. It was in this capacity that Bahr served as an emissary and negotiator with Moscow with respect to the Treaty of Moscow, the Treaty of Warsaw, as well as the Transit Treaty of 1971 and the Basic Treaty of 1972 that were concluded with the German Democratic Republic. On the basis of his success in guiding these treaties to successful conclusion, Bahr is often referred to as “Architect of the Eastern Treaties”. He is also credited with two of the Brandt government’s most influential mottos describing West Germany’s relationship with the German Democratic Republic, “Wandel durch Annäherung” ("change through rapprochement") and “Politik der kleinen Schritten” (“policy of small steps”).

With respect to Ostpolitik, Bahr's field of work was mostly behind the curtains to prepare treaties. This secrecy was broken once, however. Bahr was in Moscow holding talks with Gromyko, and materials from these talks found their way, via an unknown leak, to the tabloid newspaper Bild. On July 1, 1970, they appeared in two issues. This unauthorized publication became known as the "Bahr Paper".

Following Willy Brandt’s resignation of the Chancellery, Bahr also relinquished his position in the cabinet. He was, however, reappointed by Brandt’s successor, Helmut Schmidt (SPD), to the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. On 14 December 1976, following the federal elections that had taken place two months earlier, Bahr left his position in the Federal Government permanently.