The Söse Dam is a dam in the Lower Saxon part of the Harz mountains near Osterode in the German state of Lower Saxony .
62-521: It was the first modern dam and reservoir complex (German: Talsperre ) to be built in the Harz and was constructed by the Harzwasserwerke between 1928 and 1931. It is used for flood prevention , electricity generation , supplying drinking water and for raising water levels during times of low water. The construction of the dam cost 14.7 million Reichsmarks at the time. The Harzwasserwerke still operate
124-459: A Lemgo hardware shop from 1958 to 1961 and subsequently worked in a Lage retail shop and after that as an unskilled construction worker and a sales clerk in Göttingen while studying at night school for a general qualification for university entrance ( Abitur ). He did not have to do military service because his father had died in the war. In 1966, Schröder secured entrance to a university, passing
186-583: A "supply-side agenda" to respond to globalisation, the demands of capital markets and technological change. Schröder's efforts backfired within his own party, where its left-wing rejected the Schröder–Blair call for cutbacks to the welfare state and pro-business policies. Instead, the paper took part of the blame for a succession of six German state election losses in 1999 for the Social Democratic Party. Only by 2000, Schröder managed to capitalise on
248-729: A Turkish prison in October 2017, German media reported that Schröder had acted as mediator in the conflict and, on the request of Gabriel, met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to secure the release. After the 2018 and 2023 Turkish presidential elections, he represented the German government at Erdoğan's inauguration ceremony in Ankara (jointly with Christian Wulff , 2023). Schröder's plans after leaving office as chancellor and resigning his Bundestag seat included resuming his law practice in Berlin, writing
310-480: A conflict over privatization plans at German railway operator Deutsche Bahn ; the plans eventually fell through. In 2016, he was appointed by Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel to mediate (alongside economist Bert Rürup ) in a dispute between two of Germany's leading retailers, Edeka and REWE Group , over the takeover of supermarket chain Kaiser's Tengelmann. Following the release of German activist Peter Steudtner from
372-737: A five-year delay in Europe's currency union. After taking office, he made his first official trip abroad to France for meetings with President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin in October 1998. A 2001 meeting held by both leaders in Blaesheim later gave the name to a regular series of informal meetings between the French President, the German Chancellor, and their foreign ministers. The meetings were held alternately in France and Germany. At
434-685: A full-time President of the European Council , chosen by heads of state and government; their agreement later formed the basis of discussions at the Convention on the Future of Europe and became law with the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon . Ahead of the French referendum on a European Constitution , Schröder joined Chirac in urging French voters to back the new treaty, which would have enshrined new rules for
496-753: A member of the party. Schröder was born in Blomberg , Lippe , in Nazi Germany . His father, Fritz Schröder, a lance corporal in the Wehrmacht , was killed in action in World War II in Romania on 4 October 1944, almost six months after Gerhard's birth. His mother, Erika (née Vosseler), worked as an agricultural labourer to support herself and her two sons. After the war, the area where Schröder lived became part of West Germany. He completed an apprenticeship in retail sales in
558-458: A million copies. The fact that Schröder served on the Volkswagen board (a position that came with his position as minister-president of Lower Saxony) and tended to prefer pro-car policies led to him being nicknamed the car chancellor ( Auto-Kanzler ). In 1997, Schröder joined the minister-presidents of two other German states, Kurt Biedenkopf and Edmund Stoiber , in making the case for
620-526: A pragmatic new Social Democrat who would promote economic growth while strengthening Germany's generous social welfare system. After the resignation of Oskar Lafontaine as Leader of the Social Democratic Party in March 1999, in protest at Schröder's adoption of a number of what Lafontaine considered " neo-liberal " policies, Schröder took over his rival's office as well. In April 1999, in Germany's first session in
682-518: Is a German former politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). As chancellor, he led a coalition government of the SPD and Alliance 90/The Greens . Since leaving public office, Schröder has worked for Russian state-owned energy companies, including Nord Stream AG , Rosneft , and Gazprom . Schröder
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#1733085858462744-427: Is used to supply electricity at peak loading periods, has a power of 1.44 MW and an annual energy output of 3.10 GWh. The spillway is located on the southern abutment of the dam with the hillside. The Söse Reservoir has a pre-dam ( Vorsperre ) upstream, which is 200 m long and 20 m high and has a volume of 0.75 million m³. Its reservoir acts as a sediment trap to catch any particles in
806-547: The 1998 state elections , Schröder's Social Democrats increased their share of the vote by about four percentage points over the 44.3 percent they recorded in the previous elections in 1994 – a postwar record for the party in Lower Saxony that reversed a string of Social Democrat reversals in state elections elsewhere. Following the 1998 national elections , Schröder became chancellor as head of an SPD-Green coalition. Throughout his campaign for chancellor, he portrayed himself as
868-821: The 2003 invasion of Iraq and refused any military assistance in that invasion. Schröder's stance caused political friction between the US and Germany, in particular because he used this topic for his 2002 election campaign. Schröder's stance set the stage for alleged anti-American statements by members of the SPD. The parliamentary leader of the SPD, Ludwig Stiegler , compared US President George W. Bush to Julius Caesar while Schröder's Minister of Justice, Herta Däubler-Gmelin , likened Bush's foreign policy to that of Adolf Hitler . Schröder's critics accused him of enhancing, and campaigning on, anti-American sentiments in Germany. After his 2002 re-election, Schröder and Bush rarely met and their animosity
930-614: The Abitur exam at Westfalen-Kolleg, Bielefeld . From 1966 to 1971 he studied law at the University of Göttingen . In 1976, he passed his second law examination, and he subsequently worked as a lawyer until 1990. Among his more controversial cases, Schröder helped Horst Mahler , a founding member of the Baader-Meinhof terrorist group, to secure both an early release from prison and permission to practice law again in Germany. Schröder joined
992-579: The Orange Revolution . In 2005, Schröder suggested at the ceremonial introduction of the Airbus A380 in Toulouse that there was still "room in the boat" of EADS for Russia. In his last days in office in 2005 he signed a deal between Germany and Russian state-owned Gazprom to build Nord Stream 1 before leaving office and almost immediately joining the pipeline company's board. He rejected criticism of
1054-678: The Public Prosecutor General initiated proceedings related to accusations against Schröder of complicity in crimes against humanity due to his role in Russian state-owned corporations, while the CDU/CSU group demanded that Schröder be included in the European Union sanctions against individuals with ties to the Russian government. An SPD party arbitration committee ruled in March 2023 that he had not violated any party rules and would remain
1116-568: The September 11 attacks in 2001. When Schröder left office, Germany had 2,000 troops in Afghanistan, the largest contingent from any nation other than the United States, UK, France, Canada and after two years Afghanistan. During their time in government, both Schröder and his foreign minister Joschka Fischer were widely considered sincerely, if not uncritically, pro-Israel. Schröder represented
1178-646: The budget of the European Union be cut, saying his country was paying most for European "waste." He later moderated his views when his government held the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 1999. In 2003, Schröder and Chirac agreed to share power in the institutions of the European Union between a President of the European Commission , elected by the European Parliament , and
1240-581: The donations scandal of his Christian Democratic opposition to push through a landmark tax reform bill and re-establish his dominance of the German political scene. Schröder's tenure oversaw the seat of government move from Bonn to Berlin . In May 2001, Schröder moved to his new official residence, the Federal Chancellery in Berlin , almost two years after the city became the seat of the German Government. He had previously been working out of
1302-518: The "strategic partnership" between Berlin and Moscow, including the opening of a gas pipeline over the Baltic Sea exclusively between Russia and Germany (see "Gazprom controversy" below). During his time in office, he visited the country five times. Schröder was criticised in the media, and subsequently by Angela Merkel, for calling Putin a "flawless democrat" on 22 November 2004, only days before Putin prematurely congratulated Viktor Yanukovich during
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#17330858584621364-472: The 1994 and 1998 state elections. He was subsequently also appointed to the supervisory board of Volkswagen , the largest company in Lower Saxony and of which the state of Lower Saxony is a major stockholder. Following his election as Minister-President in 1990, Schröder also became a member of the board of the federal SPD. In 1997 and 1998, he served as President of the Bundesrat . Between 1994 and 1998, he
1426-570: The 2002 election, the SPD steadily lost support in opinion polls. Many increasingly perceived Schröder's Third Way program to be a dismantling of the German welfare state . Moreover, Germany's high unemployment rate remained a serious problem for the government. Schröder's tax policies were also unpopular; when the satirical radio show The Gerd Show released The Tax Song ( Der Steuersong ), featuring Schröder's voice (by impressionist Elmar Brandt ) lampooning Germany's indirect taxation , it became Germany's 2002 Christmas #1 hit and sold over
1488-446: The CSU's Edmund Stoiber . On 10 October, it was announced that the parties had agreed to form a grand coalition. Schröder agreed to cede the chancellorship to Merkel, but the SPD would hold the majority of government posts and retain considerable control of government policy. Merkel was elected chancellor on 22 November. On 11 October 2005, Schröder announced that he would not take a post in
1550-763: The Chinese Embassy in Belgrade in 1999. In 2004, he and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao established a secure, direct telephone line. He also pressed for the lifting of the EU arms embargo on China. After leaving public office, Schröder represented Germany at the funeral services for Boris Yeltsin in Moscow (jointly with Horst Köhler and Helmut Kohl , 2007) and Fidel Castro in Santiago de Cuba (jointly with Egon Krenz , 2016). Schröder and Kurt Biedenkopf served as mediators in
1612-584: The German government at the funeral service for King Hussein of Jordan in Amman on 9 February 1999. When British planes joined United States forces bombing Iraq without consulting the United Nations Security Council in December 1998, Schröder pledged "unlimited solidarity". But, along with French President Jacques Chirac and many other world leaders, Schröder later spoke out strongly against
1674-536: The Harz mountains and the North German plain makes the terrain very suitable for the production of electrical energy by means of hydropower . Several dams are operated by the company and thus make it an important producer of renewable energy. Beside the management and administration of flood protection installations, the company is also responsible for the maintenance of the Upper Harz Water Regale , which
1736-454: The Iraq war without a UN mandate. In the summer of 2002, during the federal election campaign, he proclaimed the "German Way" as an alternative to the "American warmongering" in Iraq and presented Germany as a peace power. In May 2019 at WORLD.MINDS in Belgrade, 20 years to the day after the bombing of Belgrade by NATO troops, Schröder stated unequivocally that in retrospect, if he had to make
1798-596: The Lower Saxon part of the Harz mountains; drinking water is prepared in three waterworks and distributed through pipes to large parts of Lower Saxony. The system is supplemented by four groundwater waterworks on the North German plain. Currently delivering over 94,4 million cubic meters of water per year, the Harzwasserwerke supply a number of municipal utilities as far away as Bremen , Brunswick , Wolfsburg and Hanover , among others. The elevation difference between
1860-566: The Nazi regime and appointed Otto Graf Lambsdorff to represent German industry in the negotiations with survivors' organisations, American lawyers and the US government. Schröder sent forces to Kosovo and to Afghanistan as part of NATO operations. Until Schröder's chancellorship, German troops had not taken part in combat actions since World War II . At the beginning of the Iraq crisis, Schröder declared in March 2002 that Germany would not take part in
1922-655: The SPD and SI chairman, who reviewed Olle & Wolter at that time, had just asked for more books on the subject. In 1985, Schröder met the GDR leader Erich Honecker during a visit to East Berlin . In the 1986 Lower Saxony state election , Schröder was elected to the Landtag of Lower Saxony and became leader of the SPD group. After the SPD won the state elections in June 1990, Schröder became Minister-President of Lower Saxony as head of an SPD- Greens coalition; in this position, he also won
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1984-637: The SPD parliamentary group. He also became chairman of the SPD Hanover district. Considered ambitious from early on in his political career, it was widely reported and never denied, that in 1982, a drunken Schröder stood outside the West German federal chancellery yelling: "I want to get in." That same year, he wrote an article on the idea of a red/green coalition for a book at Olle & Wolter, Berlin; this appeared later in Die Zeit . Chancellor Willy Brandt ,
2046-626: The Social Democratic Party in 1963. In 1978 he became the federal chairman of the Young Socialists , the youth organisation of the SPD. He spoke for the dissident Rudolf Bahro , as did President Jimmy Carter , Herbert Marcuse , and Wolf Biermann . In 1980, Schröder was elected to the German Bundestag (federal parliament), where he wore a sweater instead of the traditional suit. Under the leadership of successive chairmen Herbert Wehner (1980–83) and Hans-Jochen Vogel (1983–86), he served in
2108-463: The United States as the world's most competitive economy by 2010. Instead, he urged the EU to reform the Pact to encourage growth, and to seek the reorientation of the €100,000,000,000 annual EU budget towards research and innovation. By 2005, he had successfully pushed for an agreement on sweeping plans to rewrite the Pact, which now allowed EU members with deficits above the original 3% of GDP limit to cite
2170-532: The building in eastern Berlin used by the former leaders of East Germany . Throughout the build-up to the 2002 German election , the Social Democrats and the Green Party trailed the centre-right candidate Edmund Stoiber until the catastrophe caused by rising floodwater in Germany led to an improvement in his polling numbers. Furthermore, his popular opposition to a war in Iraq dominated campaigning in
2232-552: The coalition, which would have continued the policies of Schröder's government, but had objected to Angela Merkel replacing him as chancellor. The conference voted overwhelmingly to approve the deal. In his first term, Schröder's government decided to phase out nuclear power , fund renewable energies , institute civil unions for same-sex partners, and liberalise the naturalization law. During Schröder's time in office, economic growth slowed to only 0.2% in 2002 and Gross Domestic Product shrank in 2003, while German unemployment
2294-452: The costs of "the reunification of Europe" as a mitigating factor. Schröder was regarded a strong ally of Prime Minister Leszek Miller of Poland and supporter of the 2004 enlargement of the European Union . On 1 August 2004, the sixtieth anniversary of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising , he apologised to Poland for "the immeasurable suffering" of its people during the conflict; he was the first German Chancellor to be invited to an anniversary of
2356-402: The course of the past 75 years, the Harzwasserwerke have expanded to be the biggest water supply company in Lower Saxony and is among the top ten water companies in Germany. The company utilizes the nearby Harz mountains , a well-known nature reserve and tourist destination in Germany, as a source of high-quality drinking water. Water is impounded in six reservoirs built between 1930 and 1969 in
2418-559: The dam today. In 1933 construction began on a long-distance water pipe from the Söse reservoir, whose northern branch goes as far as Bremen . Today it mainly supplies towns and communities in the Hildesheim and Hanover areas. Since 1980 the town of Göttingen has also been supplied with drinking water from the reservoir. The main barrier is an earth-fill dam with a central concrete core and clay sealing. The hydro-electric power station , which
2480-449: The decision again, he would authorize the aerial bombardment of the former Yugoslavia again. Schröder said that "the easiest solution would be to first accept Serbia into the European Union and then within, as an integral part the EU, find a solution [to the Kosovo issue]." With Germany having a long experience with terrorism itself, Schröder declared solidarity with the United States after
2542-534: The elections, neither Schröder's SPD-Green coalition nor the alliance between CDU/CSU and the FDP led by Angela Merkel achieved a majority in parliament, but the CDU/CSU had a stronger popular electoral lead by one percentage point. On election night, both Schröder and Merkel claimed victory and chancellorship, but after initially ruling out a grand coalition with Merkel, Schröder and Müntefering entered negotiations with her and
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2604-415: The established Social Democratic political tradition of Wandel durch Handel . Schröder also began seeking a resolution ways to compensate Nazi-era slave labourers almost as soon as he was elected chancellor. Reversing the hard-line stance of his predecessor, Helmut Kohl , he agreed to the government contributing alongside industry to a fund that would compensate people forced to work in German factories by
2666-525: The expanded EU of 25 member states and widened the areas of collective action. Also in 2003, both Schröder and Chirac forced a suspension of sanctions both faced for breaching the European Union's fiscal rules that underpin the euro – the Stability and Growth Pact – for three years in a row. Schröder later called for a revision of the Lisbon Strategy and thereby a retreat from Europe's goal of overtaking
2728-573: The fortieth anniversary of the Elysée Treaty , both sides agreed that rather than summits being held twice a year, there would now be regular meetings of a council of French and German ministers overseen by their respective foreign affairs ministers. In an unprecedented move, Chirac formally agreed to represent Schröder in his absence at a European Council meeting in October 2003. In his first months in office, Schröder vigorously demanded that Germany's net annual contribution of about $ 12,000,000,000 to
2790-444: The latter and opted not to join the board of Russian state-run gas company Gazprom . He also had roles as a global manager for investment bank Rothschild , and as chairman of the board of football club Hannover 96 . After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , Schröder was criticized for his policies towards Vladimir Putin 's government, his work for Russian state-owned companies, and his lobbying on behalf of Russia. In March 2022,
2852-483: The main dam, but it has since been demolished. Harzwasserwerke The Harzwasserwerke GmbH ( German pronunciation: [ˈhaːɐ̯tsˌvasɐvɛʁkə ˌɡeːʔɛmbeːˈhaː] ; English: Harz Water Works Limited) is a major German water company and dam operator based in Hildesheim , located within the German federal state of Lower Saxony . Founded in 1928, the Harzwasserwerke were tasked with supplying drinking water , providing electrical power and flood protection . Over
2914-686: The move and announced legal action over reports he would be paid between €200,000 (£134,000) and €1m a year. In 2022 he was reportedly paid about $ 270,000 a year as chairman of the shareholder committee. Only a few days after his chancellorship, Schröder joined the board of directors of the Nord Stream joint venture, thus bringing about new speculations about his prior objectivity. In his memoirs Decisions: My Life in Politics , Schröder still defends his friend and political ally, and states that "it would be wrong to place excessive demands on Russia when it comes to
2976-545: The new cabinet and, in November, he confirmed that he would leave politics as soon as Merkel took office. On 23 November 2005, he resigned his Bundestag seat. On 14 November 2005, at a SPD conference in Karlsruhe , Schröder urged members of the SPD to support the proposed coalition, saying it "carries unmistakably, perhaps primarily, the imprint of the Social Democrats". Many SPD members had previously indicated that they supported
3038-547: The party's campaign to unseat incumbent Helmut Kohl as chancellor. During the campaign, Schröder served as shadow minister of economic affairs, energy and transport. In 1996, Schröder caused controversy by taking a free ride on the Volkswagen corporate jet to attend the Vienna Opera Ball , along with Volkswagen CEO Ferdinand Piëch . The following year, he nationalized a big steel mill in Lower Saxony to preserve jobs. In
3100-493: The rate of domestic political reform and democratic development, or to judge it solely on the basis of the Chechnya conflict." Schröder's continued close connection to Vladimir Putin and his government after his chancellorship has been widely criticized in Germany. During his time in office, Schröder visited China six times. He was the first Western politician to travel to Beijing and apologise after NATO jets had mistakenly bombed
3162-780: The restored Reichstag, to applause he quoted Albanian writer Ismail Kadare , saying: "The Balkans is the yard of the European house, and in no house can peace prevail so long as people kill each other in its yard." In a move meant to signal a deepening alliance between Schröder and Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom, the two leaders issued an eighteen-page manifesto for economic reform in June 1999. Titled "Europe: The Third Way", or "Die Neue Mitte" in German, it called on Europe's centre-left governments to cut taxes, pursue labour and welfare reforms and encourage entrepreneurship. The joint paper said European governments needed to adopt
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#17330858584623224-413: The river before they get to the main reservoir. In addition there is also a stilling basin ( Ausgleichsbecken ) below the primary dam, with a 10 m high dam wall, which controls any irregularity arising from the flow of water through the primary dam, power station and waterworks. Camping, fishing and walking are permitted. The path around the reservoir is 9 km long. There used to be a restaurant by
3286-645: The run-up to the polls. At 22 September 2002 vote, he secured another four-year term, with a narrow nine-seat majority down from 21. In February 2004, Schröder resigned as chairman of the SPD amid growing criticism from across his own party of his reform agenda; Franz Müntefering succeeded him as chairman. On 22 May 2005, after the SPD lost to the Christian Democrats (CDU) in North Rhine-Westphalia , Gerhard Schröder announced he would call federal elections "as soon as possible". A motion of confidence
3348-691: The then Prime Minister Gerhard Schröder (SPD). The state sold the facility for DM 220 million to a consortium of energy suppliers and customers of the Harzwasserwerke. Since then, the name has been "Harzwasserwerke GmbH". It is still performing a number of public and communal services that go beyond the portfolio of other water suppliers. Harzwasserwerke GmbH is managed by Hendrik Rösch and Lars Schmidt as CEOs. The annual turnover nearly doubled from 2010 (40 million EUR) to 2022 to more than 76,8 million EUR (2022). Gerhard Schr%C3%B6der Gerhard Fritz Kurt " Gerd " Schröder ( German: [ˈɡeːɐ̯haʁt fʁɪts kʊʁt ˈʃʁøːdɐ] ; born 7 April 1944)
3410-422: The uprising. Both Schröder and Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer also supported the accession of Turkey to the European Union . Marking a clear break with the caution of German foreign policy since World War II, Schröder laid out in 1999 his vision of the country's international role, describing Germany as "a great power in Europe" that would not hesitate to pursue its national interests. Schröder also continued
3472-546: The war's unpopularity). On his first official trip to Russia in late 1998, Schröder suggested that Germany was not likely to come up with more aid for the country. He also sought to detach himself from the close personal relationship that his predecessor, Helmut Kohl , had with Russian President Boris Yeltsin , saying that German-Russian relations should "develop independently of concrete political figures." Soon after, however, he cultivated close ties with Yeltsin's successor, President Vladimir Putin , in an attempt to strengthen
3534-432: Was a lawyer before becoming a full-time politician, and he was Minister President of Lower Saxony (1990–1998) before becoming chancellor. Following the 2005 federal election , which his party lost, and after three weeks of negotiations, he stood down as chancellor in favour of Angela Merkel of the rival Christian Democratic Union . He was chairman of the board of Nord Stream AG and of Rosneft but in 2022 resigned from
3596-424: Was also chairman of Lower Saxonian SPD. During Schröder's time in office, first in coalition with the environmentalist Green Party, then with a clear majority, Lower Saxony became one of the most deficit-ridden of Germany's 16 federal states and unemployment rose higher than the national average of 12 percent. Ahead of the 1994 elections , SPD chairman Rudolf Scharping included Schröder in his shadow cabinet for
3658-428: Was designated by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2010. Harzwasserwerke employs about 260 employees (2022). After the founding of the state of Lower Saxony after the Second World War in 1946, the Harzwasserwerke were an institution under public law. They were called "Harzwasserwerke des Landes Niedersachsen" and the state of Lower Saxony was the sole owner. In 1996, the country carried out privatization under
3720-431: Was over the 10% mark. Most voters soon associated Schröder with the Agenda 2010 reform program, which included cuts in the social welfare system ( national health insurance , unemployment payments , pensions), lower taxes, and reformed regulations on employment and payment. He also eliminated capital gains tax on the sale of corporate stocks in an attempt to make the country more attractive to foreign investors. After
3782-548: Was seen as a widening political gap between the US and Europe. Bush stated in his memoirs that Schröder initially promised to support the Iraq war but changed his mind with the upcoming German elections and public opinion strongly against the invasion, to which Schröder responded saying that Bush was "not telling the truth". When asked in March 2003 if he was self-critical about his position on Iraq, Schröder replied, "I very much regret there were excessive statements" from himself and former members of his government (which capitalised on
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#17330858584623844-476: Was subsequently defeated in the Bundestag on 1 July 2005 by 151 to 296 (with 148 abstaining), after Schröder urged members not to vote for his government in order to trigger new elections. In response, a grouping of left-wing SPD dissidents and the Party of Democratic Socialism agreed to run on a joint ticket in the general election, with Schröder's rival Oskar Lafontaine leading the new group. The 2005 German federal elections were held on 18 September. After
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