German-French germane friends

In 1945, right after World War II, some German and French citizens founded the 'society for supranational cooperation' (GUEZ) to promote reconciliation and mutual understanding between the two people. GUEZ has as one of its main goals the organisation of bilingual holiday trips for teenagers of both nationalities. For this purpose, GUEZ operates several hostels in the two countries where the groups gather during Easter or summer holidays.

GUEZ is co-chaired two presidents, one German and one French. Franz Schoser has been the German president of GUEZ for more than three decades. As he grew up in post-war Germany in the part occupied by French troops, the reconciliation between the two people has been his personal cause ever since. 

Franz Schoser (2nd from right) at the signature of the Guidel lease contract

Franz has therefore been particularly proud to announce the further extension of GUEZ's activities. GUEZ will take over the management of another site in France to host youth trips. The organisation will lease for 20 year a hostel in Guidel in Brittany at the Atlantic Coast. The hostel offers 20 rooms for up to 80 guests. A person who appeared particularly pleased with the arrangement is GUEZ's French president whose family origins go back to a neighbouring village. 

Social market economy

After World War II, Germany experienced an exceptional period of economic growth known as 'economic miracle' (Wirtschaftswunder). This golden age of the 1950s and 1960s was based on a new economic order trying to combine the market economy with elements of a strong welfare state. This economic model has become known as 'social market economy'.




One of the founding fathers and key thinkers behind this model was professor Alfred Müller-Armack. It was in fact him who coined the term 'Soziale Marktwirtschaft' in his book 'economic governance and market economy' published in 1947.

When Franz Schoser did a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Cologne in 1959, Müller-Armack was his supervisor. Franz wrote his doctoral thesis on one of the key topics of the social market economy, namely competition policy. In his subsequent professional life, in particular as secretary general of the German chambers of commerce, Franz continued to promote the fundamental principles of the social market economy. This has now earned him the Müller-Armack medal for merit awarded since 1964 to renowned politicans and academics defending the values of the social market economy. A former prize winner and former president of Germany Horst Köhler holds the eulogy.

Welcome Veronika!

On Thursday, 14 January 2016, Veronika was born! She came into the world in Erlangen/ Bavaria and her full name is Veronika Lea Rosemary Hirmer. 



Relatives trying to figure out family relations

She is the first child to her parents Manuel and Jessica Hirmer (Schoser), the first grandchild to her grandparents Martin and Uta Schoser and the first great-grandchild to great-grandparents Franz and Edith Schoser. From her mother's side, she has three aunts and two uncles. Other relatives are still trying to figure out how they relate to the firstborn of the next generation, whether they are great-cousins, uncles or aunts of second or third degree or half-step-great-nephews or nieces...

Storm in a teecup

PLAKAT-AKTION GEGEN THOMAS IKING 

Pfarrer aus Köln-Lindenthal an den Pranger gestellt

Eines der diffamierenden Plakate im Stadtwald

„Tebartz van Köln“: Auf diffamierenden Plakaten im Stadtwald und in Lindenthal wird Pfarrer Thomas Iking von St. Stephan anonym bezichtigt, sich bereichert zu haben. Der 56-Jährige hat Strafanzeige gestellt. Von Bettina Janecek

Lindenthal. „Wir sind entsetzt, bestürzt, beleidigt.“ Franz Schoser vom Kirchenvorstand der katholischen Lindenthaler Gemeinde St. Stephan macht aus seiner Empörung keinen Hehl. „Das sind Latrinen-Parolen, die jeder Grundlage entbehren.“ Der Stein des Anstoßes sind diffamierende Plakate, die im Stadtwald und auf Straßen im Viertel aufgehängt wurden und den leitenden Pfarrer von St. Stephan, Thomas Iking, öffentlich an den Pranger stellen. 

Happy birthday!

Jubilarian Edith with husband Franz

Franz Schoser 80 years

Published in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on 27 July 2013

Magic potion

The year is 1948 AD, and all Germany lies in ruins and is occupied by foreign troops. Only one small village of indomitable Swabians holds out against the post-war depression. 

But what can the villagers do to overcome the depression and revive their village? Anything is possible, with a little cunning plus the butchers' oxblood! Its effects can be truly historic ...

This is the beginning of the tale of the remote small town of Trochtelfingen which since then has converted into a gem of the Swabian Alb not least thanks to the initiative of the three Schoser brothers Gustav, Hans and Franz. (See also under 'Gallery'.)

Golden Wedding

Today, Franz and Edith Schoser celebrate their golden wedding. It was 50 years ago on 14 August 1961, they married in the abbey of Beuron on the Danube.  The wedding took place only one day after the construction of the Berlin Wall started.

50 years on, the Berlin Wall is history. In contrast, Franz and Edith are alive and well and proud grand-parents of 16 grand children. On the occasion of the golden wedding, all gathered to congratulate.

Mechtild Wagner (Schoser)

Mechtild Wagner (Schoser) of Trochtelfingen died on Good Friday, 10 April 2009 at her home. She was 78. Mrs Wagner was born on Easter Sunday, 17 April 1930, in Trochtelfingen, the third child of Gustav sen. and Maria Schoser. She was an apprentice in clothing boutiques in the towns of Singen and Freiburg. Later, she worked in the clothing boutique of her parents in Trochtelfingen. She married Hermann Wagner in 1969. The two moved to Bad Schussenried in 1979 where they ran a clothing boutique of their own. In 1989, they retired and returned to Trochtelfingen. 

The Wagners had no children. Mrs Wagner was preceded in death by her husband in 1999. Mrs Wagner is remembered by her family for her good sense of humor, her love for traveling and gardening. Mrs Wagner is survived by her brothers Gustav Jr., Hans and Franz and their spouses. She also is survived by her nine nephews, four nieces and their families. A memorial service took place in St Martin in Trochtelfingen on 15 April 2009.

Decorations

The 'Ring of Roses'

Schosers have been awarded with diverse orders and prizes. In 1994, Gustav was awarded the 'ring of roses' of the city of Nauheim. The ring is awarded every second year and is meant to acknowledge a personality's merit for his/her work on roses.

Ten years later, Gustav's younger brother Johannes Martin (Hans) was named honorary citizen of his home town Trochtelfingen. The laudation explained in simple but convincing terms that 'Johannes Martin is a part of Trochtelfingen'. (For more details see GEA and SZ.)

Order of Merit of Germany

In 1989, Johannes had already been awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. This honour was conferred upon his elder brother Gustav in 1991 and upon his younger brother Franz in 1992. In the case of Franz, the Order was meant to acknowledge in particular his contribution to international understanding, notably between Germany and France, which also earned him the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur.

While we can be proud of counting these highly decorated Schosers among us, we are still hoping to discover a Schoser winning a singing or beauty contest even if it isn't Miss World or Mister Universe... Please report!

P.S. Additional research has unearthed that indeed, Hans was Prince Carnival in his native Trochtelfingen in 1953 (!), surely the cornerstone of his later honors.

Cold War times

The early 1980s experienced a renewed, but final phase of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the West. In December 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afganistan prompting the West to boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. In December 1981, the communist Polish government imposed the martial law to repress the political opposition led by the Solidarność trade-union movement. The West replied by imposing economic sanctions on the Soviet Union.
And what was the role of Schosers in all this?

At the time, Franz Schoser was the secretary general of the German Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry. He was thus one of the voices of German business which was affected by the West's economic sanctions against the Soviet Union. It is in this context that the German weekly Die Zeit interviewed Franz to find out how German business coped with the dilemma of being caught between political rationale and economic interest.

Moving words at farewell of DIHK secretary general

There are very few people on the stage of politics in Berlin who enjoy respect and great support from all sides.

Franz Schoser, the outgoing secretary general of the German Association of Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), is certainly one of them. It was therefore not surprising that at Schoser's farewell, former Chancellor Helmut Kohl and the Minister of the Chancellery Frank-Walter Steinmeier held moving laudations one straight after the other. The scholar of the famous economist Müller-Armack has worked for the Association since 1973 and has been its secretary general since 1980. His outstanding achievements are the rapid rollout of the chamber network in the new Länder and the systematic promotion of the German chamber network abroad.

Schoser was very well connected and was the perfect symbiosis of perseverance, calmness and reliability. He knew everything and was a master in silence. His self-irony, his dry sense of humour and his fairness made the native Swabian popular with employees and politicians. Of all business stakeholders, Schoser was certainly the one most listened to in the Chancellery.

German original of this article published in Die Welt, 24 November 2001