Ludwig Erhard

Ludwig Wilhelm Erhard (; 4 February 1897 – 5 May 1977) was a German politician and economist affiliated with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and chancellor of West Germany from 1963 until 1966. He is known for leading the West German postwar economic reforms and economic recovery (Wirtschaftswunder, German for "economic miracle") in his role as Minister of Economic Affairs under Chancellor Konrad Adenauer from 1949 to 1963. During that period he promoted the concept of the social market economy (soziale Marktwirtschaft), on which Germany's economic policy in the 21st century continues to be based. In his tenure as Chancellor, however, Erhard lacked support from Adenauer, who remained chairman of the party until 1966, and failed to win the public's confidence in his handling of a budget deficit and his direction of foreign policy. His popularity waned, and he resigned his chancellorship on 30 November 1966. Early life Ludwig Erhard was born in Fürth, (Kingdom of Bavaria), on 4 February 1897. His father Wilhelm Erhard (b. 1859) was a Catholic clothing store proprietor, while his mother Augusta was a Protestant. Ludwig had two brothers and a sister, Rose, all of whom were raised as Protestants. Ludwig suffered from infantile paralysis in his third year, resulting in a deformed right foot and forcing him to wear orthopedic shoes for the remainder of his life. Erhard entered primary school in Fürth at the age of six in 1903 and performed poorly. In 1907, he entered Fürth's Royal Bavarian Vocational High School, where his grades were average. He received his secondary school certificate in 1913. In the following years, he was a commercial apprentice at the Georg Eisenbach textile company in Nuremberg until 1916 and worked thereafter as a retail salesman in his father's draper's shop. Military service and university In 1916, Erhard volunteered for the German military. During World War I he was referred to the 22nd Royal Bavarian Artillery Regiment and trained as a gun aimer. He first served in the quiet Vosges sector on the Western Front. The regiment was then deployed to Romania on the Eastern Front, where he also saw little combat. Erhard contracted typhus and was sent back to Germany. He recovered and returned to his unit. He was badly wounded on his left shoulder, side and leg by an Allied artillery shell on 28 September 1918 during the Fifth Battle of Ypres.