Manfred Rommel - Stuttgart's Lord Mayor looking to the future
Manfred Rommel: a man of many words. Words with which he stood up for tolerance and integration. But also words with which he turned Stuttgart into one of the economically strongest metropolitan regions. Rommel stood his ground - not only when he was elected Lord Mayor of Stuttgart in 1974, but also when he allowed the terrorists Gudrun Ensslin, Andreas Baader and Jan-Carl Raspe to be buried together in 1977, despite protests and criticism.
He always pursued his vision for Stuttgart: he wanted to develop Baden-Württemberg's state capital into a modern and cosmopolitan economic center. In 1977, he campaigned for the founding of the Stuttgart Transport and Tariff Association, or VVS for short, which laid the foundations for the S-Bahn commuter rail service. A city that looks to the future and brings people together: Manfred Rommel came closer to this goal with the construction of the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in 1983 and the World Championships in Athletics in 1993.
In addition to reducing the city's debt and approving Stuttgart 21, he also contributed to Stuttgart's future-oriented development with the extension of the airport runway in 1996. Manfred Rommel died in 2013 at the age of 84. Even after his death, the memory of the popular politician lives on, for example with a scholarship that will be awarded from 2018 to support young scientists - or with the addition of the name "Manfred Rommel" to Stuttgart Airport.
Anyone taking off or landing at Stuttgart Airport will see a large sign on the front of the terminal when they look out of the plane: "Manfred Rommel Airport". The long-serving Lord Mayor of Stuttgart and Chairman of the Airport Supervisory Board was very committed to STR and continuously campaigned for its future viability. Baden-Württemberg's state airport was therefore named after him in 2014. Flughafen Stuttgart GmbH commemorates its advocate and supporter in many different ways and in many places - be it via the terminal lettering, welcome signs on the access road or Rommel quotes that run across the monitors in the passenger terminals.
Vita Prof. Dr. H.C. Manfred Rommel
24.12.1928
Born in Stuttgart
1956
State examination in law
1971
Ministerial Director at the Ministry of Finance
1972
State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance of the State of Baden-Württemberg
1974
Elected Lord Mayor of the City of Stuttgart
1977
Joint burial of terrorists Gudrun Ensslin, Andreas Baader and Jan Carl Raspe despite protests - thanks to Manfred Rommel.
President of the Association of German Cities
1978
Foundation of the VVS and start of S-Bahn services in Stuttgart
1983
Construction of the Hanns-Martin-Schleyerhalle
1993
World Championships in Athletics in Stuttgart
Budget restructuring as the basis for reducing the city of Stuttgart's debt
1994
Decision in favor of the Stuttgart 21 railroad project
Foundation of the Stuttgart Region Association
1996
Extension of the Stuttgart Airport runway to 3,345 meters
Flughafen Stuttgart GmbH had just two million passengers in 1974, the year in which Manfred Rommel was elected Lord Mayor of Stuttgart. This office automatically made him Chairman of the Airport Supervisory Board, so that no strategic decision on the development of the state airport in the following 22 years was made without his placet. Manfred Rommel was passionate about making Stuttgart Airport fit for the future and thus securing Baden-Württemberg's economic strength. In particular, he campaigned for the relocation and extension of the only runway.
Expansion 1996 at a glance
Before the expansion in 1996, Stuttgart's runway was 2,550 meters long and was located 1,380 meters further west than it is today, in the direction of Weidacher Höhe. For decades, the hilltop had imposed restrictions on air traffic to and from Stuttgart. The weight of the aircraft was strictly limited for take-offs to the west. This meant that not all heavy freight could be transported, and fuel also had to be refueled with an eye on the kilos. Transatlantic flights, for example to the USA, were therefore only possible with a stopover to refuel the kerosene for the long distance. The relocation of the runway to the east and the extension to the current 3,345 meters provided significant relief. The additional safety distance to the Weidacher Höhe also made it possible to install an electronic instrument landing system. This means that approaches are no problem even in poor visibility.
Manfred Rommel in action for the runway
Manfred Rommel expressly supported the expansion and conversion of the runway. He listened to the concerns of those who were against it, but argued just as passionately. "If the matter were less important, I would have kept quiet. But it is important for the future of many people in this city, in this region and in this country, even if many of you haven't even realized it yet," the then Lord Mayor told Stuttgart's municipal council in 1988. "The path to this safe and functional airport leads via the planning approval decision. If this path is not taken, we need not be surprised if one day our business location is no longer as attractive as it currently is, if unemployment rates are no longer as low."
Chronicle
More than 100 years of Stuttgart Airport – an overview of the passage of time since 1924
The content on https://www.stuttgart-airport.com/ is translated by DeepL. DeepL and Flughafen Stuttgart GmbH accept no liability for the accuracy, reliability or currency of the information translated by DeepL. In particular, DeepL is not responsible for the processed content. There is no claim to accuracy or completeness of the translation of the content on https://www.stuttgart-airport.com - it is therefore possible that some elements, applications and files (e.g. PDFs, images, graphics etc.) cannot be translated. There is no liability claim for any damages incurred. Machine translation does not replace manual translation by certified linguists.
