He was born in Hamburg and died in Hamburg. Hamburg was his home for more than 96 years. Helmut Schmidt was a German Chancellor and statesman. But he was also a Hanseatic institution. The traces he left behind in the Hanseatic city are manifold.
Where did the young Helmut go to school? Who declared the police senator "Lord of the Tide"? Why did the extra-parliamentary opposition (APO) demonstrate against the parliamentary party leader? What did the Chancellor do at the gallop race? And which places in Hamburg today commemorate the honorary citizen? Answers to these and many other questions can be found on our interactive Schmidt map with a total of 60 entries.
"The Hamburg brashness, from which you could hear his youth in Barmbek, was just as much a part of him as the natural elegance of the freedom-loving Hanseatic citizen who could also stumble over a sharp stone," said Hamburg's mayor Olaf Scholz in November 2015 at the funeral service for the honorary citizen of Hamburg in the main church of St Michaelis.
Helmut Schmidt had already made a name for himself as a crisis manager during the great storm surge of 1962. At the time, he was the police senator of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. His hands-on approach to coordinating the disaster response earned him recognition and respect on the Elbe.
Loki and Helmut Schmidt lived in Hamburg-Langenhorn for half a century. The house at Neubergerweg 80, into which the Schmidt family moved in 1961, occasionally served as a stage for world politics. Schmidt's friends such as Giscard d'Estaing and Henry Kissinger came and went here. King Juan Carlos of Spain and the Polish head of government Edward Gierek also came here. Soviet head of state Leonid Brezhnev caused a sensation in the tranquil housing estate on the outskirts of the city. He came to Hamburg on 6 May 1978 at the end of a three-day state visit. In doing so, Loki and Helmut Schmidt deliberately demonstrated bourgeois normality during the Cold War.
Helmut Schmidt was at home in the world - and had his roots in Hamburg. He always remained attached to the "sleeping beauty", whom he rebuked in an anonymous article for Die Welt in 1962. For decades, "Schmidt Schnauze", as he was known as a member of the Bundestag due to his polished speech, was one of the country's leading political figures. As an elder statesman and author of more than 50 books, Helmut Schmidt achieved unrivalled popularity. His economic expertise was recognised worldwide.
From 1983 until his death, he set the tone as co-editor of the weekly newspaper Die Zeit. In this role, too, he rubbed shoulders with his home town until old age. The "Oracle of Langenhorn" - as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung called him - was always listened to on the Elbe.
It was Helmut Schmidt's last wish that the Federal President's state ceremony should take place here in the "Michel", where the people of Hamburg had already bid farewell to his wife Hannelore "Loki" Schmidt five years earlier.1800 invited guests - including friends and companions from around the world such as former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger - came to Hamburg for the funeral service on 23 November 2015 to pay tribute to the statesman together with the Federal President and the Federal Chancellor. Thousands lined the streets as the funeral procession rolled from the Michel to his final resting place at Ohlsdorf Cemetery. The people of Hamburg paid their last respects to their city's greatest son.
Many things in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg are reminiscent of Loki and Helmut Schmidt. Back in December 2003, the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Hamburg was renamed Helmut Schmidt University (see photo). in 2012, a grammar school in the Wilhelmsburg district was named after him, as was the auditorium of Bucerius Law School.
Hamburg Airport has been officially named "Hamburg Airport Helmut Schmidt" since November 2016. An exhibition in Terminal 2 provides information about the statesman and airport neighbour. The City of Hamburg also honoured Loki Schmidt's achievements by awarding her honorary citizenship. The Loki Schmidt Foundation, which she established, continues her commitment to the protection of endangered plants. The botanical garden bears the name of the conservationist, as does the Loki Schmidt School on Othmarscher Kirchenweg.
The Helmut and Loki Schmidt Foundation is now based in Loki and Helmut Schmidt's house in Langenhorn. The archive and library, which were built next to the house, can be used by researchers and other interested parties. A virtual tour provides insights into the Schmidts' home, which - in accordance with Helmut and Loki Schmidt's will - is to remain unchanged.
The Hamburg Pressehaus, the headquarters of the weekly newspaper Die Zeit, has been known as the Helmut Schmidt House since January 2016. Just around the corner, at Kattrepel 10 in the Kontorhaus district, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Foundation has been based since mid-2017. Here in the heart of the city, the foundation has developed the Helmut Schmidt Forum, a place for political education and social debate. It provides food for thought for the future.
The permanent exhibition "Schmidt! Living Democracy" has been taking visitors on a journey through 100 years of German and international history since 2021. One of the major themes of the fifth German Chancellor takes centre stage: democracy. In the spirit of Schmidt, we invite our guests to join the discussion and ask questions about the future of democracy in Germany, Europe and the world.
