Björn Engholm

Björn Engholm (born 9 November 1939) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He was Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein from 1988 to 1993 and leader of the Social Democratic Party between 1991 and 1993.

Björn Engholm Ministerpräsident a. D.
Leader of the Social Democratic Party
In office 29 May 1991 – 3 May 1993
Federal Manager	Anke Fuchs Karlheinz Blessing
Preceded by	Hans-Jochen Vogel
Succeeded by	Johannes Rau (interim)
Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein
In office 31 May 1988 – 3 May 1993
Deputy	Marianne Tidick Eva Rühmkorf Günther Jansen Heide Simonis
Preceded by	Henning Schwarz (interim)
Succeeded by	Heide Simonis
President of the Bundesrat
In office 1 November 1988 – 31 October 1989
First Vice President	Bernhard Vogel
Preceded by	Bernhard Vogel
Succeeded by	Walter Momper
Leader of the Opposition in the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein
In office 12 April 1983 – 31 May 1988
Minister-President	Uwe Barschel Henning Schwarz (interim)
Preceded by	Klaus Matthiesen
Succeeded by	Heiko Hoffmann
Leader of Social Democratic Party in the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein
In office 12 April 1983 – 31 May 1988
Preceded by	Klaus Matthiesen
Succeeded by	Gert Börnsen
Minister of Education and Science
In office 28 January 1981 – 1 October 1982
Chancellor	Helmut Schmidt
Preceded by	Jürgen Schmude
Succeeded by	Dorothee Wilms
Parliamentary State Secretary of Education and Science
In office 18 May 1977 – 28 January 1981
Chancellor	Helmut Schmidt
Minister	Helmut Rohde Jürgen Schmude
Preceded by	Peter Glotz
Succeeded by	Eckart Kuhlwein
Member of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein
In office 12 April 1983 – 7 November 1994
Preceded by	multi-member district
Succeeded by	Wolfgang Herrmann
Constituency	Social Democratic List
Member of the Bundestag for Lübeck
In office 20 October 1969 – 29 March 1983
Preceded by	Helmut Wendelborn
Succeeded by	Reinhold Hiller
Personal details
Born	(1939-11-09) 9 November 1939 Lübeck-Moisling, Germany
Political party	Social Democratic Party (1962–)
Spouse(s)	Barbara Engholm ​ (m. 1964)​
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Hamburg
Occupation	Politician typographer docent

Engholm was educated at University of Hamburg.[1] He was elected Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein in 1988, in the wake of the Barschel affair/Waterkantgate: he had been spied on and was a victim of severe defamation (HIV infection, tax evasion, etc.) by the Barschel campaign. The Social Democrats won an impressive 54.2% (up almost 10%) and gained an absolute majority for the first time ever.[2] Engholm served as President of the Bundesrat in 1988/89.

While Engholm was popular with the electorate, he was forced to resign as party leader and Minister-President in 1993 after discrepancies surfaced over the testimonies he gave in the Barschel affair (Schubladenaffäre, drawer affair). A party official had paid 50,000 Deutsche Mark (kept in a kitchen drawer) to the spy of the Barschel affair to keep the espionage a secret for several weeks, to reveal the scandal on election weekend with a bigger impact and then present Engholm as a victim.

He was succeeded by Rudolf Scharping as party chairman and by Heide Simonis as Minister-President.

Since 1964, Engholm is married to painter Barbara Engholm (born 1940); they have two daughters.