A European Conscience: A biography of Hans-Gert Pöttering

The comprehensive biography “Ein europäisches Gewissen” (A European conscience), with a foreword by Donald Tusk, pays attention to small details, providing an excellent portrait of Hans-Gert Pöttering, former President of the European Parliament (EP) and initiator of the House of European History project.

Available formats and languages

The historians Michael Gehler and Marcus Gonschor’s biography was first published in German as Ein Europäisches Gewissen in 2020 and is now available for the first time in English in this translation by Sebastian Schnorrenberg. Authoritative in its marshalling of evidence and measured in its judgements, their book casts much light not only on the “European life” of Hans-Gert Pöttering but also on many of the pivotal political episodes of the era. It powerfully demonstrates the truth of Jean-Claude Juncker’s judgement that: “What marks out Hans-Gert Pöttering is that Europe for him has always been a matter of conviction and never of political calculation…. since first elected to the European Parliament he has never ceased his work to make the European dream a reality.”

An extract from the book in English, about how the House of European History was created, can be downloaded below.