Quick Facts
Biography
Max Streibl (January 6, 1932 in Oberammergau – December 11, 1998 in Munich) was a German politician of the CSU party and the eighth Minister President of Bavaria.
Life
Max Streibel was born in Oberammergau in 1932, where his parents owned a hotel business. He married his wife Irmingard in 1960 and they had one daughter and two sons.
After going to school in Ettal, he studied law in Munich, graduating in 1955. He worked in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and later, at the German Bundesrat in Bonn and joint the local government of the region of Upper Bavaria in 1960. From 1961, he worked for the state government and began to rise in the ranks of the CSU. From 1961 to 1967, he led the Junge Union, the Young Union, an organisation of his party aimed at young, new members.
He became a member of the Bavarian Landtag in 1962, a position he held until 1994, when he retired. He was then the General Secretary of the party from 1967 to 1970.
Max Streibl served as Bavarian Minister for the Environment (1970–1977), a newly formed ministry, and for Finance (1977–1988). After the sudden death of Franz Josef Strauß in 1988, Max Streibl succeeded him as Ministerpräsident of Bavaria on 19 October 1988. Max Streibl was deeply rooted in Catholicism, but soon became unpopular because of alleged bribery (he was paid holiday trips by Burkhart Grob, the chairman of an aircraft producing company). Because of this so-called "amigo-affair", coming to the surface in January 1993, he was forced to resign on 27 May 1993 and Edmund Stoiber took office, despite the latter being involved in the affair, too. The affair did result in a policy change in Bavaria, aimed at untangling the connections between politics and business.
Streibl's defiant final words upon his resignation, with a tear in his eyes, were "Adios Amigos!".
He retired from politics shortly after and died in December 1998 in Munich.
Honors
- Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Passau (1985) and Munich (1990).
- Grand Cross of Merit of the Italian Republic (1988)
- Honorary Citizen of Oberammergau (1989)
- Grand Cross of the Order Pro Merito Melitensi of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
- Order of the Holy Sepulchre