{{Short description|German politician (1923–2019)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Wilhelm Helms | birth_name = | office = Member of the [[Bundestag]] | image = KAS-Helms, Wilhelm-Bild-13985-1.jpg | caption = Wilhelm Helms campaign poster | term_start = 1969 | term_end = 1972 | office1 = [[List of members of the European Parliament for West Germany, 1979–84|Member of the European Parliament]] | term_start1 = 17 July 1979 | term_end1 = 23 July 1984 | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1923|12|19}} | birth_place = [[Twistringen]], [[Lower Saxony]], [[Germany]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2019|12|8|1923|12|19}} | death_place = [[Vechta]], Lower Saxony, Germany | party = [[German Party (1947)|German Party]]<br>[[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|The Free Democratic Party]] (from 1963) | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = Politician / Farmer }}
'''Wilhelm Helms''' (19 December 1923 – 8 December 2019) was a German politician. He served as a member of the [[Bundestag]] from 1969 to 1972. Helms was notable for his 1972 party switch that threatened to collapse the government of [[Chancellor]] [[Willy Brandt]].
==Early life and career== Wilhelm Helms was born on 19 December 1923 in the Bissenhausen district of [[Twistringen]], Germany. His father, Heinrich Helms died in 1941 while his brother, Heinrich, was killed in [[World War II]].<ref name=ManInTheNews>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1972/04/29/archives/a-farmer-basks-in-bonns-spotlight-wilhelm-helms.html |title=Man in the News |work=New York Times |date=1972-04-29}}</ref>
After high school, he was drafted into the [[Wehrmacht]]. He served in a tank crew on the Russian front and left the army in 1945. He worked his family's farm after the war.<ref name=ManInTheNews/>
==Political career== In 1956, he became involved in politics as a local councilor in his hometown, becoming the mayor in 1961. In 1963, he switched parties to join the [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|Free Democratic Party]] and become a regional administrator. The party selected him to its list for the [[1969 West German federal election]] and he entered the [[Bundestag]]. His Free Democrats entered into a coalition with the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]] of [[Willy Brandt]], giving the ruling coalition 251 votes, a majority of three votes.
==1972 party switch== Shortly after the [[1972 Baden‐Württemberg state election]] in which the [[CDU/CSU]] won overwhelmingly, Helms announced that he would leave the Free Democrats and apply for membership in the [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]]. With the coalition down to 249 members, Helms’ party switch would shift the balance of power in the Bundestag. The opposition proposed a vote of no-confidence in the government to replace Brandt with [[Rainer Barzel]]. Helms suggested that he had disagreements over domestic policy and expressed reservations with the governments policy in Eastern Europe. Brandt's government negotiated treaties with the [[Soviet Union]] and [[Poland]] that would coming for a vote.<ref name=Imperil>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1972/04/24/archives/west-german-state-vote-imperils-bonn-coalition-a-state-election.html |title= West German State Vote Imperils Bonn Coalition |newspaper=New York Times |date=1972-04-24}}</ref>
At the no-confidence vote, two CDU politicians voted to support Brandt while Helms would not reveal how he had voted. However, he later stated that he would support the vote for the treaties. Helms sat with the CDU for the remainder of his term. In the [[1972 West German federal election]], he was not re-elected to the Bundestag.<ref name=ManInTheNews/>
==Later career== In [[1979 European Parliament election|1979]], Helms won a seat in the [[European Parliament]] from the CDU. He served on the Delegation for relations with Canada, the [[European Parliament Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development|Committee on Agriculture]] and the [[European Parliament Committee on Transport and Tourism|Committee on Transport]]. He left the European Parliament in 1984.<ref name=Euro>{{cite web |url= http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/826/WILHELM_HELMS/history/1 |title=Wilhelm Helms-Official European Parliament profile |date=19 December 1923 |publisher=European Parliament |access-date=2019-12-19}}</ref>
==Personal life== In 1944, he met his wife, Lya Schilmbller, who had been sent to work on the farm. The couple become engaged in 1946 and married in 1948.<ref name=ManInTheNews/>
In 1990, Helms took issue with Brandt's memoir, which suggested that Helms had a financial motive for switching parties. His suit was unsuccessful.<ref name=Hannoverische>{{cite news |url= https://www.haz.de/Nachrichten/Politik/Deutschland-Welt/Der-Mann-der-Willy-Brandt-stuerzen-wollte |title= Der Mann, der Willy Brandt stürzen wollte |language= de |newspaper= Hannoverische Allgemeine |date= 2018-12-13 |archive-date= 2021-09-28 |access-date= 2019-12-20 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210928084129/https://www.haz.de/Nachrichten/Politik/Deutschland-Welt/Der-Mann-der-Willy-Brandt-stuerzen-wollte |url-status= dead }}</ref>
Helms died on 8 December 2019 in [[Vechta]], Germany at the age of 95.<ref name=Kreiszeitung>{{cite news |url= https://www.kreiszeitung.de/lokales/diepholz/twistringen-ort47316/wechselvolle-politische-ausnahme-karriere-13287524.html |title=Ehemaliger Landrat und Bundestagsabgeordneter Wilhelm Helms|language=de |newspaper=Kreiszeitung |date=2019-12-11}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}} {{European Parliament MEPs, 1979-1984 (Germany) by party}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helms, Wilhelm}} [[Category:1923 births]] [[Category:2019 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century German politicians]] [[Category:Members of the Bundestag for Lower Saxony]] [[Category:German Party (1947) politicians]] [[Category:Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany]] [[Category:German Army personnel of World War II]]