Uwe Barschel

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Uwe Barschel
Barschel on a 1987 campaign poster
Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein
In office 14 October 1982 – 2 October 1987
Deputy	Henning Schwarz
Preceded by	Gerhard Stoltenberg
Succeeded by	Henning Schwarz (interim)
Schleswig-Holstein Cabinet Minister of the Interior In office 1 July 1979 – 4 October 1982 Minister-President Gerhard Stoltenberg Preceded by Rudolf Titzck Succeeded by Karl Eduard Claussen Minister of Finance In office 1 January 1979 – 30 June 1979 Minister-President Gerhard Stoltenberg Preceded by Gerd Lausen Succeeded by Rudolf Titzck
Landtag career Leader of the Christian Democratic Union in the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein In office 15 May 1973 – 8 January 1979 Preceded by Gerd Lausen Succeeded by Heiko Hoffmann Member of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein for Lauenburg-Süd In office 24 May 1971 – 11 October 1987 Preceded by Paul Rohloff Succeeded by Frank Millack
Personal details
Born	Uwe Ulrich Barschel (1944-05-13)13 May 1944 Glienicke/Nordbahn, Province of Brandenburg, Free State of Prussia, Nazi Germany (now Brandenburg, Germany)
Died	11 October 1987(1987-10-11) (aged 43) Beau-Rivage, Geneva, Switzerland
Cause of death	Drug overdose
Resting place	Mölln
Political party	Christian Democratic Union (1962–1987)
Spouse	Freya Barschel ​ (m. 1973)​
Children	4
Residence	Mölln
Alma mater	University of Kiel
Occupation	Politician Notary Lawyer
Cabinet	Stoltenberg II, Stoltenberg III, Barschel I, Barschel II

Uwe Barschel (13 May 1944 – 11 October 1987) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein from 1982 to 1987.

Barschel resigned as Minister-President shortly after he became embroiled in a scandal known as Waterkantgate for alleged spying on his Social Democrat rival during the 1987 state election. On 11 October 1987, nine days after his resignation, Barschel was found dead under mysterious circumstances at the Hotel Beau-Rivage in Geneva, Switzerland. While a police investigation concluded that Barschel had committed suicide, the circumstances of his death remain controversial.

Barschel, having assumed office of Minister-President at the age of 38 and died at 43, is to-date the youngest head of government of a federal state in Germany and the youngest former Minister-President to die.