Academic apprenticeship

Schmidt would prefer to become an architect or urban planner, but instead enrols to study economics on 30 October 1945. The aim is to relieve his wife Loki, who at the time works as a teacher and is the sole breadwinner, as quickly as possible. During his studies, he finds his true economic convictions – including from Karl Schiller, later Schmidt’s manager, a Social Democratic ministerial colleague and a political rival. In 1947, Schmidt joins the SPD-aligned Socialist German Student Union (SDS). As the head of the Hamburg-based group, he makes valuable national and international contacts. His commitment also pays off financially: his application for a scholarship from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation is accepted.