Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) - The former Hessian Minister of Education, Hartmut Holzapfel, is dead. As the SPD state parliamentary group announced on Wednesday, the long-standing SPD state parliamentarian died on December 21 at the age of 78. The chairman of the SPD parliamentary group, Günter Rudolph, praised Holzapfel as a high-profile educational politician who had vigorously pursued the modernization of the Hessian school system: "Education and educational policy were the lifelong themes of Hartmut Holzapfel."
Holzapfel had been a member of the Hessian state parliament since 1974. For 13 years he was education policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group. From 1991 to 1999 he was the state's Minister of Education. According to his party, Holzapfel stood for a modern school landscape with more autonomy, more equal opportunities and more educational justice. As a politician, he convinced with clear arguments, but did not shy away from sharp debate. According to the SPD, he was also a "committed Donalist who increased and spread knowledge about Donald Duck and his cosmos Duckburg".
After leaving the state parliament in 2008, he promoted cultural exchange with the Hessian partner regions. He was the initiator and long-time chairman of the Hessian Literature Council, which confirmed the news of death on Wednesday, citing his wife. "The SPD parliamentary group in the Hessian state parliament mourns the passing of the passionate parliamentarian Hartmut Holzapfel," said Rudolph. "His lifelong commitment to better educational opportunities drove him and his political work and made him distinctive."
