Willy Brandt

Willy Brandt, former West German chancellor and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, resigned today as chairman of the opposition Social Democrats. Brandt, 73, who had led Germany's oldest political party since 1964, quit amid a party uproar over his selection of a Greek woman and non-party member, Margarita Mathiopoulos, as the Social Democrats' chief spokeswoman.

Rainer Barzel, 82, a conservative leader whose attempt to topple then-Chancellor Willy Brandt of West Germany was reportedly undermined by the East German spy service, died Saturday after a long illness, the Christian Democratic Union party announced, giving no other details. As chairman of the Christian Democrats from 1971 to 1973, Barzel helped promote an unsuccessful vote of no confidence in Brandt, a Social Democrat.

East German Social Democrats, many overcome with emotion and with tears in their eyes, elected former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt as their party's honorary chairman. Brandt was among many top-ranking West German Social Democrats attending the first national convention of the East German sister party in Leipzig. Polls have predicted the East German Social Democrats will be the leading contenders in next month's national elections.

For a play about politicians, that most loquacious bunch, the most riveting moment in Michael Frayn's "Democracy" is provided by a silent gesture. Willy Brandt, the chancellor of West Germany, is making an unprecedented official visit to the Communist sector of his divided country at the height of the Cold War. This sets off a spontaneous outpouring of affection.

Willy Brandt has resigned under fire from the chairmanship of the West German Social Democratic Party because, as he has admitted, he has lost the confidence of the party that he led for 23 years. The Socialists have been defeated in the last two elections, and this year went down with their worst showing in more than a quarter of a century.

Willy Brandt, one of the most important, influential statesmen of the post-World War II era, has died, officials of his Social Democratic Party said early today. He was 78 and had suffered from cancer. He reportedly died late Thursday night at his home south of Bonn, where he had withdrawn to spend his final weeks. The German radio station Deutschlandfunk seemed to speak for the nation in its bulletin reporting Brandt's death: "His passing comes as a shock, even though one expected it.

A neo-Nazi group has claimed responsibility for the assassination of Prime Minister Olof Palme in a letter made public today by Sweden's national news agency. The group, calling itself the European National Socialist Union, said in the letter to the Swedish news agency TT: "We are behind the killing of Palme. German traitor Willy Brandt will be next." Brandt, 72, a close friend of Palme, is a Social Democrat and a former West German chancellor.

Rainer Barzel, 82, a conservative leader whose attempt to topple then-Chancellor Willy Brandt of West Germany was reportedly undermined by the East German spy service, died Saturday after a long illness, the Christian Democratic Union party announced, giving no other details. As chairman of the Christian Democrats from 1971 to 1973, Barzel helped promote an unsuccessful vote of no confidence in Brandt, a Social Democrat.

Prodded by President Boris N. Yeltsin, the Russian Constitutional Court agreed Tuesday to allow Mikhail S. Gorbachev to get a passport so the former Soviet leader may attend a state funeral in Germany. It was the most encouraging sign yet that the two men have reached an understanding breaking the internationally embarrassing deadlock caused by Gorbachev's refusal to appear in a case involving the Communist Party's checkered past.

Willy Brandt, anti-Nazi German patriot and lifelong stalwart of the Social Democratic Party, has served his country as parliamentarian, mayor of West Berlin, foreign minister and chancellor. His Ostpolitik , which sought an opening toward Eastern Europe, won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971. A key figure in the Socialist International, his name has also become a kind of shorthand for the principled, liberal stance on global issues.

For addicts of Cold War cloak-and-dagger intrigue, this was the moment. In all the public glare that German democracy could muster, Guenther Guillaume, the East German spy who pulled off one of the great coups in the annals of espionage, walked into a courtroom here Wednesday, called by the state to testify against his former chief, Markus Wolf, the Communist world's most cunning spymaster.

Every once in a while, a statesman rises to symbolic heights because of a confluence of his character and the needs of his society. Such men serve to seize a historic moment and, having fulfilled their mission, disappear to remain forever as deeply honored symbols. Willy Brandt was such a man. Though I knew Brandt for 30 years and saw him frequently, we never achieved real intimacy. I admired his achievements even when I was--occasionally--uneasy about his policies.

On a crisp, clear autumn day, his countrymen bid a final farewell Saturday to Willy Brandt, a rare German statesman who earned both respect and affection in the global community. Brandt, whose politics of reconciliation changed the image of his country and took some of the chill off a Cold War Europe during his five years as West German chancellor, was buried in a Berlin suburb after a state funeral at the Reichstag, the once-and-future national legislative seat.

Prodded by President Boris N. Yeltsin, the Russian Constitutional Court agreed Tuesday to allow Mikhail S. Gorbachev to get a passport so the former Soviet leader may attend a state funeral in Germany. It was the most encouraging sign yet that the two men have reached an understanding breaking the internationally embarrassing deadlock caused by Gorbachev's refusal to appear in a case involving the Communist Party's checkered past.

Willy Brandt, the former West German chancellor who died Thursday after a prolonged struggle against cancer, will be buried next Saturday with full military honors in Berlin, government sources said Friday. While exact details of the ceremony were still under discussion, officials at the Interior Ministry in Bonn said German President Richard von Weizsaecker will preside over a memorial service at the Reichstag building, the past and future home of the national Parliament.

Willy Brandt, one of the most important, influential statesmen of the post-World War II era, has died, officials of his Social Democratic Party said early today. He was 78 and had suffered from cancer. He reportedly died late Thursday night at his home south of Bonn, where he had withdrawn to spend his final weeks. The German radio station Deutschlandfunk seemed to speak for the nation in its bulletin reporting Brandt's death: "His passing comes as a shock, even though one expected it.

Every once in a while, a statesman rises to symbolic heights because of a confluence of his character and the needs of his society. Such men serve to seize a historic moment and, having fulfilled their mission, disappear to remain forever as deeply honored symbols. Willy Brandt was such a man. Though I knew Brandt for 30 years and saw him frequently, we never achieved real intimacy. I admired his achievements even when I was--occasionally--uneasy about his policies.

In his column about Mikhail Gorbachev's difficulties in dealing with nationalist aspirations in the Soviet Union (Op-Ed Page, March 22), Dmitri Shalin writes, "The Second Communist International broke down in 1914. . . ." This is imprecise. The first and only "Communist International"--sometimes referred to as the COMINTERN--was not formed until 1919. Shalin is referring to the Second Socialist International. While the movement sputtered in 1914 when the leaders of various socialist and social democratic parties succumbed to nationalism and joined their governments' efforts in World War I, it still exists today under the name--"Socialist International"--and is led by current and former heads-of-state such as Willy Brandt of West Germany, Felipe Gonzalez of Spain and Michael Manley of Jamaica.

Iraq sent home 174 Western hostages Friday, including a California couple and a 10-year-old "human shield" who had promised to trade his allowance for his family's freedom. A third American who had been shot trying to escape the Iraqis also was released, but at least two other Americans who had been promised exit papers were prevented from boarding the special Lufthansa Airbus from Baghdad at the last minute, witnesses said.

Former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt arrived in this capital Monday night on a personal mission to win the release of hundreds of Iraqi-held hostages. Brandt traveled in a chartered Lufthansa Airbus that can carry about 250 people, bearing flowers and letters from relatives of the estimated 400 German hostages. Also on board were four aides and two tons of medicine for Iraq donated by German companies.