In 1951, prompted by the French Foreign Minister and former Minister President Robert Schumann, France, Italy, the Benelux countries and the young Federal Republic concluded the treaty that created the European Coal and Steel Community. That was the point of origin for the European Union. In the wake of that treaty the law on workers’ participation in management in the German coal and steel industry was passed in May 1951. The law provided for representatives of the workforce to make up half of the executive and management boards of firms with more than 1,000 employees. The German Federation of Labor Unions and its President Hans Böckler had played a major role in getting the legislation passed.

The union representatives elected to the management boards were required to donate a portion of their expenses money to a foundation, Stiftung Mitbestimmung, which was created in 1954 and later absorbed by the Hans-Böckler-Stiftung. The foundation provided scholarships for labor unionists to attend university courses.

I had joined the Genossenschaft Deutscher Bühnenangehöriger (GDBA), the theater section of the Federation of Labor Unions, in 1953. The GDBA published a monthly magazine, Bühnengenossenschaft. It was there that in the spring of 1958 I read a notice about Stiftung Mitbestimmung-funded places at the Akademie für Gemeinwirtschaft in Hamburg. Applications were invited from people aged thirty-five or under who were union members. There was no explicit requirement for a high school diploma, but evidence of occupational training was required. Acceptance would be determined by an entrance examination lasting several days. Application materials could be requested from the Akademie.

I didn't have a high school diploma, nor could I produce a certificate of occupational training. But I still saw the notice as an opportunity to complete my education and qualify for a job. So I applied, took the entrance exam and passed with about half of the other applicants, received a scholarship and began my studies at the Hamburg Akademie für Gemeinwirtschaft in October 1958. The Akademie had been founded in 1948 on the initiative of labor unionists, cooperative movement activists and politicians, mainly Social Democrats, who wanted to reform and democratize the German university system after the experience of National Socialism and the Weimar Republic.