Born: 18 December 1913 · Died: 8 October 1992 · Age at death: 78
How old was Willy Brandt when he died?
Willy Brandt died aged 78. He was born on 18 December 1913 and died on 8 October 1992.
Former Mayor of West Berlin who became chancellor, knelt at the Warsaw Ghetto memorial and won the Nobel Peace Prize
Did you know?He lived in exile in Norway and Denmark during the Nazi era, working as a journalist under a pseudonym to escape persecution.
Quick facts
Date of birth18 December 1913
Date of death8 October 1992
Age at death78
Cause of deathColorectal cancer
NationalityGerman
BirthplaceMeierstraße, Germany
Occupationjournalist, politician, autobiographer
Editor's Take:
Willy Brandt reshaped Germany's place in Europe after the war. Born Herbert Frahm, he fled the Nazis in 1933 and worked against them from Norway. As mayor of West Berlin he stood firm when the Wall went up in 1961. As chancellor from 1969 he reached out to the Soviet bloc in a policy called Ostpolitik. In Warsaw in 1970 he knelt in silence at the memorial to the Ghetto uprising, a gesture seen around the world. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971.
Key Milestones
1957: West Berlin – mayor
1961: Berlin Wall – crisis
1969: Chancellor – elected
1970: Warsaw – kneels
Willy Brandt (German:; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and concurrently served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1969 to 1974.