Walter Romberg

Walter Romberg (27 December 1928 – 23 May 2014) was a German politician and finance minister of East Germany.

Early life and education
Romberg was born in Schwerin on 27 December 1928. From 1947 he studied physics and mathematics. He held a Dr. rer. nat. in mathematics.

Career
He worked at the East German Academy of Sciences. He was editor-in-chief of the Zentralblatt MATH from 1965 to 1978.

Romberg became a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1989. He served as the minister without portfolio in the cabinet of Prime Minister Hans Modrow between 1989 and 1990. Romberg was appointed minister of finance to the cabinet led by Prime Minister Lothar de Maizière on 12 April 1990 following the first free elections of East Germany on 18 March 1990. Romberg was one of the senior social democratic members of de Maizière's cabinet. On 19 May 1990, the West Germany's finance minister, Theo Waigel, and Romberg signed a state treaty to merge their economies and make the West German mark the sole legal currency in both nations by 2 July 1990.

Romberg was removed from office on 15 August 1990 due to his support for the challenging clauses in a political unification treaty governing the allocation of tax revenues. He also angered the West German officials with his continuous demands for more cash help to bail out the weak East German industries and to finance welfare payments. The other reason for his removal was related to the East Germany's rapidly deteriorating economic status. Romberg was also fired due to his warnings about the reunification in terms of its economic burden and his critical and even pessimistic approach towards it.

Werner Skowron succeeded Romberg in the post. Following the dismissal of Romberg, SPD left the coalition on 20 August 1990, and called it unconstitutional. Until 1994 Romberg served at the European Parliament.

Views
In 1991, after unification, Romberg stated in a conference held at Humboldt University that the West German leadership did not comprehend the huge differences between two countries' economic patterns.

Later years and personal life
Romberg was married and had three sons. In 1997 he moved to Teltow with his wife. He died there on 23 May 2014 and was buried in his hometown Schwerin.