Siegfried Balke
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Siegfried Balke | |
|---|---|
 Dr. Siegfried Balke, Portrait by Günter Rittner 1969. In the possession of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations | |
| Federal Minister of Post and Telecommunications | |
| In office 10 December 1953 – 16 October 1956 | |
| Chancellor | Konrad Adenauer |
| Preceded by | Hans Schuberth |
| Succeeded by | Ernst Lemmer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 June 1902 |
| Died | 11 June 1984 (aged 82) |
| Citizenship | Germany |
| Party | CSU |
| Occupation | Chemist, politician |
Siegfried Balke (1 June 1902 – 11 June 1984) was a German politician (CSU).
He served as German Federal Minister for Post and Communications from 1953 to 1956 and as German Federal Minister for Nuclear Energy from 1956 to 1962.
Balke was born in Bochum. He obtained his master's degree in chemistry in 1924, and a doctorate in chemistry in 1925. During the Nazi period, Balke, a Protestant Christian, was classified as a "half-Jew", which prevented him from pursuing an academic career in Germany. From 1925 to 1952, he worked for various chemical companies, until he became director of Wacker Chemie in 1952. A 50% stake of Wacker Chamie was held by the chemical conglomerate IG Farben until 1945, and then by Hoechst AG. After 1945, Balke was one of the few executives of the German chemical industry not stained by Nazi collaboration, which led to his chairmanship of the Association of the Bavarian Chemical Industry. He was an honorary professor for chemical processing at LMU Munich since 1956. After his resignation as Minister for Nuclear Energy, he was president of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA) from 1964 to 1969 and chairman of the Technical Monitoring Association (TÜV).
Balke was co-publisher of "Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Technical Chemistry" as well as the periodicals "Chemical Industry" and "Nuclear Economy" (all in German).
Party
From 1954, Balke was a member of the CSU.
