Rohde was born in Hanover on 9 November 1925.[2] His father, August, was a welder and a social democrat member of the independent trade union.[2] Helmut Rohde fought in the German army in World War II and was a POW until 1945 when he was freed.[2]
He studied journalism following the war and graduated in 1947.[3] In 1950, he began to study politics and business in a higher education institution in Wilhelmshaven, which later became part of the University of Göttingen.[4]
Career
In 1945, Rohde became a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).[3] After graduation he began to work as an editor at the German Press Agency's Hannover branch.[2] His pseudonym in his writings was Achilles, the name of his grandfather.[2] He served in the party's local organizations in Hannover in the 1950s[3] and later served in its "working group for workers' questions".[5] In 1957, he was elected to the Bundestag with the SPD from Hannover.[4] From 1964 to 1965 he was also a member of the European Parliament.[2]
He was appointed federal minister of education and science on 16 May 1974, replacing Klaus von Dohnanyi in the post.[6] He served in the cabinet led by Prime MinisterHelmut Schmidt.[5] In 1975, Rohde became a member of the SPD's executive committee.[3] Rohde's cabinet post ended on 16 February 1978 and another SPD politician, Jürgen Schmude, replaced him in the post.[5] After leaving office he concentrated on his work in the SPD's working group for workers' questions.[7]
Speaker: Marieluise Beck-Oberdorf, Petra Kelly, Otto Schily until 3 April 1984; Annemarie Borgmann, Waltraud Schoppe, Antje Vollmer until 30./31. January 1985;
Sabine Bard, Hannegret Hönes, Christian Schmidt until 1 February 1986; Annemarie Borgmann, Hannegret Hönes, Ludger Volmer until 18 July 1986); Willi Hoss (8 September 1986)
