In 1947, he took his
Abitur while studying in
Biberach an der Riß and went on to study law at the
University of Tübingen. He married Liselotte in 1954 and had a daughter named Catherine. After a stint working as a lawyer, in 1956, Rommel entered the civil service and later became state secretary in the state government of
Baden-Württemberg. In 1974, Rommel succeeded
Arnulf Klett as
Oberbürgermeister (equivalent to Mayor) of Stuttgart by winning 58.5% of the votes in the second round of elections, defeating Peter Conradi of the
Social Democratic Party. He was re-elected after the first round of elections in 1982 with 69.8% and in 1990 with 71.7% of the votes. As the mayor of Stuttgart, he was also known for his effort to give the
Red Army Faction terrorists who had committed suicide at the Stuttgart-
Stammheim prison a proper burial, despite the concern that the graves would become a pilgrimage point for radical leftists. In defending his decision against criticism from within his own party, Rommel said: "All enmity must end at some point and I think in this case it ends with [their] death." While Oberbürgermeister of Stuttgart, Rommel began a much-publicised friendship with U.S. Army Major General
George Patton IV, the son of his father's World War II adversary, General
George S. Patton, who was assigned to the
VII Corps headquarters near the city. Additionally, he was also friends with
David Montgomery, 2nd Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, the son of his father's other great adversary, Field Marshal
Bernard Law Montgomery, a friendship viewed by some as a symbol of Anglo-German reconciliation following the War and West Germany's admission into
NATO. In a 1996 celebration at the Württemberg State Theatre, Manfred Rommel received the highest German civil distinction, the
Bundesverdienstkreuz. In his speech,
Helmut Kohl put particular emphasis on the good relations that were kept and built upon between
France and Germany during Rommel's tenure as Oberbürgermeister of Stuttgart. A few days after this distinction was given to Rommel, the city of Stuttgart offered him the Honorary Citizen Award. He risked his popularity when he stood out for the fair treatment of foreign immigrants, who were being drawn to Stuttgart by its booming economy. As mayor, Rommel also exerted "tight control over the city's finances, reducing its debt and enabling a radical makeover of the local infrastructure, especially roads and public transport [while working]...to foster Franco-German relations." == Outside politics ==