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When the [[Nazi Germany|Nazis]] came to power in 1933, the Centre Party lost the elections in Cologne and Adenauer fled to the abbey of [[Maria Laach Abbey|Maria Laach]], threatened by the new government after he refused to shake hands with a local Nazi leader. His stay at this abbey, which lasted for a year, was cited by its abbot after the war, when accused by [[Heinrich Böll]] and others of collaboration with the Nazis. According to [[Albert Speer]] in his book ''[[Spandau: The Secret Diaries]]'', Hitler expressed admiration for Adenauer, noting his building of a road circling the city as a bypass, and of a “green belt” of parks. However, both Hitler and Speer felt that Adenauer’s political views and principles made it impossible for him to play any role within the [[Nazi]] movement or be helpful to the [[Nazi party]].
When the [[Nazi Germany|Nazis]] came to power in 1933, the Centre Party lost the elections in Cologne and Adenauer fled to the abbey of [[Maria Laach Abbey|Maria Laach]], threatened by the new government after he refused to shake hands with a local Nazi leader. His stay at this abbey, which lasted for a year, was cited by its abbot after the war, when accused by [[Heinrich Böll]] and others of collaboration with the Nazis. According to [[Albert Speer]] in his book ''[[Spandau: The Secret Diaries]]'', Hitler expressed admiration for Adenauer, noting his building of a road circling the city as a bypass, and of a “green belt” of parks. However, both Hitler and Speer felt that Adenauer’s political views and principles made it impossible for him to play any role within the [[Nazi]] movement or be helpful to the [[Nazi party]].


He was imprisoned briefly after the [[Night of the Long Knives]] in mid-1934. During the next two years, he changed residences often for fear of reprisals against him by the Nazis, while living on his pension. In 1937, he was successful in claiming at least some compensation for his once confiscated house and managed to live in seclusion for some years. After the [[July 20 Plot|failed assassination attempt on Hitler]] in 1944, he was imprisoned for a second time as an opponent of the regime. He fell ill and credited Eugen Zander, the communist [[Kapo]] of the camp near Bonn, with saving his life by getting him transferred to a hospital. He was then re-arrested, but in the absence of any evidence against him was released from [[Brauweiler Abbey]] in November.
He was imprisoned briefly after the [[Night of the Long Knives]] in mid-1934. During the next two years, he changed residences often for fear of reprisals against him by the Nazis, while living on his pension. In 1937, he was successful in claiming at least some compensation for his once confiscated house and managed to live in seclusion for some years. After the [[July 20 Plot|failed assassination attempt on Hitler]] in 1944, he was imprisoned for a second time as an opponent of the regime. He fell ill and credited Eugen Zander, the communist [[Kapo (concentration camp)|Kapo]] of the camp near Bonn, with saving his life by getting him transferred to a hospital. He was then re-arrested, but in the absence of any evidence against him was released from [[Brauweiler Abbey]] in November.


Shortly after the war ended the [[United States|Americans]] installed him again as Mayor of Cologne, but the British Director of Military Government in [[Germany]], [[Gerald Templer]], dismissed him for what he said was his alleged incompetence.
Shortly after the war ended the [[United States|Americans]] installed him again as Mayor of Cologne, but the British Director of Military Government in [[Germany]], [[Gerald Templer]], dismissed him for what he said was his alleged incompetence.

Revision as of 19:40, 1 September 2009

For other uses, see Konrad Adenauer (disambiguation).
Konrad Adenauer
Chancellor of Germany
In office
15 September 1949 – 16 October 1963
PresidentTheodor Heuss (1949-1959)
Heinrich Lübke (1959-1969)
DeputyFranz Blücher (1949-1957)
Ludwig Erhard (1957-1963)
Preceded byPosition established
Allied military occupation, 1945-1949
Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk (1945)
Succeeded byLudwig Erhard
Foreign Minister of Germany
In office
15 March 1951 – 6 June 1955
ChancellorHimself
Preceded byCount Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk (1945)
Succeeded byHeinrich von Brentano
Mayor of Cologne
In office
1917–1933
Preceded byLudwig Theodor Ferdinand Max Wallraf
Succeeded byGünter Riesen
In office
1945–1945
Preceded byRobert Brandes
Succeeded byWilli Suth
Personal details
Born(1876-01-05)5 January 1876
Cologne
Died19 April 1967(1967-04-19) (aged 91)
Bad Honnef
Political partyCentre Party (1906-1945)
CDU (1945-1967)
Spouse(s)Emma Weyer
Auguste (Gussie) Zinsser
Alma materUniversity of Freiburg
University of Munich
University of Bonn
OccupationLawyer, Politician
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Konrad Hermann Josef Adenauer (German pronunciation: [ˈkɔnʁaːt ˈhɛɐman ˈjozɛf ˈaːdenaʊɐ]), 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman.

Although his political career spanned sixty years, beginning as early as 1906, he is most noted for his role as the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (then known as West Germany) from 1949–1963 and chairman of the Christian Democratic Union from 1950 to 1966. He was the oldest chancellor ever to serve Germany, beginning his first ministry at the age of 73 and leaving at the age of 87. His 14-year tenure was the second-longest for a German Chancellor (behind Otto von Bismarck) until Helmut Kohl passed him in 1996.

As a Catholic Centre Party politician in the Weimar Republic, he served as Mayor of Cologne (1917–1933) and president of the Prussian State Council (1922–1933). As such he was one of the most prominent politicians of interwar Prussia and a leading democratic adversary of Prime Minister Otto Braun.

Biography

Early life

Konrad Adenauer was born as the third of five children of Johann Konrad Adenauer (1833-1906) and his wife Helene (1849-1919) (née Scharfenberg) in Cologne, Rhenish Prussia. His siblings were August (1872-1952), Johannes (1873-1937), Lilli (1879-1950) and Elisabeth, who died shortly after birth in c. 1880. In 1894, he completed his Abitur and started to study law and politics at the universities of Freiburg, Munich and Bonn. He was a member of several Roman Catholic students’ associations under the K.St.V. Arminia Bonn in Bonn. He finished his studies in 1901. Afterwards he worked as a lawyer at the court in Cologne.

Early political career

As a devout Roman Catholic, he joined the Centre Party in 1906 and was elected to Cologne’s city council in the same year. In 1909, he became Vice-Mayor of Cologne. From 1917 to 1933, he served as Mayor of Cologne. He had the unpleasant task of heading Cologne in the era of British occupation following the First World War and lasting until 1926. He managed to establish faithful relations with the British military authorities and flirted with Rhenish separatism (a Rhenish state as part of Germany, but outside Prussia). During the Weimar Republic, he was president of the Prussian State Council (Preußischer Staatsrat) from 1922 to 1933, which was the representative of the Prussian cities and provinces.

When the Nazis came to power in 1933, the Centre Party lost the elections in Cologne and Adenauer fled to the abbey of Maria Laach, threatened by the new government after he refused to shake hands with a local Nazi leader. His stay at this abbey, which lasted for a year, was cited by its abbot after the war, when accused by Heinrich Böll and others of collaboration with the Nazis. According to Albert Speer in his book Spandau: The Secret Diaries, Hitler expressed admiration for Adenauer, noting his building of a road circling the city as a bypass, and of a “green belt” of parks. However, both Hitler and Speer felt that Adenauer’s political views and principles made it impossible for him to play any role within the Nazi movement or be helpful to the Nazi party.

He was imprisoned briefly after the Night of the Long Knives in mid-1934. During the next two years, he changed residences often for fear of reprisals against him by the Nazis, while living on his pension. In 1937, he was successful in claiming at least some compensation for his once confiscated house and managed to live in seclusion for some years. After the failed assassination attempt on Hitler in 1944, he was imprisoned for a second time as an opponent of the regime. He fell ill and credited Eugen Zander, the communist Kapo of the camp near Bonn, with saving his life by getting him transferred to a hospital. He was then re-arrested, but in the absence of any evidence against him was released from Brauweiler Abbey in November.

Shortly after the war ended the Americans installed him again as Mayor of Cologne, but the British Director of Military Government in Germany, Gerald Templer, dismissed him for what he said was his alleged incompetence.

Post World War II and the founding of the CDU

After his dismissal as Mayor of Cologne, Adenauer devoted himself to building a new political party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which he hoped would embrace both Protestants and Roman Catholics in a single party. In January 1946, Adenauer initiated a political meeting of the future CDU in the British zone in his role as doyen (the oldest man in attendance, Alterspräsident) and was informally confirmed as its leader.

Adenauer worked diligently at building up contacts and support in the CDU over the next years, and he sought with varying success to impose his particular ideology on the party. His was an ideology at odds with many in the CDU, who wished to unite socialism and Christianity; Adenauer preferred to stress the dignity of the individual, and he considered both communism and Nazism materialist world views that violated human dignity.[1]

Adenauer’s leading role in the CDU of the British zone won him a position at the Parliamentary Council of 1948, called into existence by the Western Allies to draft a constitution for the three western zones of Germany. He was the chairman of this constitutional convention and vaulted from this position to being chosen as the first head of government once the new “Basic Law” had been promulgated in May 1949.

Adenauer was reportedly critical of the Catholic hierarchy for not criticizing the Nazis loudly enough, and he is cited for this in the book Constantine's Sword by John Cornwell.[2]

Chancellor of West Germany

After the German federal election, 1949 at age 73,[3] Adenauer was elected the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundeskanzler) after World War II with the support of his own CDU, the Christian Social Union and the liberal Free Democratic Party. Due to his age, it was initially thought he would only be a caretaker. However, he held this position from 1949 to 1963, a period which spans most of the preliminary phase of the Cold War. During this period, the post-war division of Germany was consolidated with the establishment of two separate German states, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). The first elections to the Bundestag of West Germany were held on 15 August 1949, with the Christian Democrats emerging as the strongest party. Theodor Heuss was elected first President of the Republic, and Adenauer was elected Chancellor on 16 September 1949. He also had the new "provisional" capital of the Federal Republic of Germany established at Bonn, which was only 15 kilometers away from his hometown, rather than at Frankfurt am Main (see History of Germany since 1945).

When the rebellion within the Soviet sector of Germany was put down in June 1953, Adenauer was handily reelected to a second term as Chancellor with a larger majority for his CDU/CSU party coalition and could dispense with the FDP as a partner in government. The brutal suppression of the Hungarian revolution in 1956 allowed him to gain re-election to a third term as Chancellor in 1957, in which the CDU/CSU won an absolute majority—to date, the only time a German party has won an absolute majority in a free election. But the building of the Berlin Wall and the sealing of the borders with the East Germany made his government look weak. He also tarnished his image when he announced he would run for the presidency in 1959, only to pull out when his vision of a much more powerful presidency conflicted with the Basic Law and the precedent established by the departing Theodor Heuss.[4] When the CDU/CSU again needed to include the FDP in a coalition government after losing their majority in the 1961 elections, Adenauer had to make two concessions: to relinquish the chancellorship before the end of the new term, and to replace his foreign minister.[5]

Adenauer’s achievements include the establishment of a stable democracy in defeated Germany, a lasting reconciliation with France, a general political reorientation towards the West, recovering limited but far-reaching sovereignty for West Germany by firmly integrating it with the emerging Euro-Atlantic community (NATO and the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation). Adenauer is associated with establishing a pension system, which ensured unparalleled prosperity for retired persons, and — along with his Minister for Economic Affairs and successor, Ludwig Erhard - with the West German model of a “social market economy” (a mixed economy with capitalism moderated by elements of social welfare and Catholic social teaching), which allowed for the boom period known as the Wirtschaftswunder (“economic miracle”) and produced broad prosperity. Adenauer ensured a truly free and democratic society which had been almost unknown to the German people before- notwithstanding the attempt between 1919 and 1933 (the Weimar Republic)- and which is today not just normal but also deeply integrated into modern German society. He thereby laid the groundwork for the Western world to trust Germany again. It can be argued that because of Adenauer’s former policy, a later reunification of both German states was possible. A unified Germany has remained part of the European Union and NATO.

Plaque commemorating the restoration of relations between Germany and France, showing Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle

However, contemporary critics accused Adenauer of cementing the division of Germany, sacrificing reunification and the recovery of territories lost in the westward shift of Poland and the Soviet Union. "In his view, he said with the greatest emphasis, full integration into Western Europe was a precondition of the reunification of Germany."[6] During the Cold War, the United States was "aiming for a West German armed force, after their [U.S.] costly experience in the Korean War,"[7] and Adenauer linked this rearmament concept to West German sovereignty and entry into NATO. In 1952, the Stalin Note, as it became known, "caught everybody in the West by surprise."[8] It offered to unify the two German entities into a single, neutral state with its own, non-aligned national army to effect superpower disengagement from Central Europe. Adenauer and his cabinet were unanimous in their rejection of the Stalin overture, they shared the Western Allies’ suspicion about the genuineness of that offer and supported the Allies in their cautious replies. Adenauer’s flat rejection was, however, out of step with public opinion; he then realized his mistake and he started to ask questions. Critics denounced him for having missed an opportunity for German reunification. The Soviets sent a second note, courteous in tone. Adenauer by then understood that "all opportunity for initiative had passed out of his hands,"[9] and the matter was put to rest by the Allies. Given the realities of the Cold War, German reunification and recovery of lost territories in the east were not realistic goals as both of Stalin's notes specified the retention of the existing "Potsdam"-decreed boundaries of Germany.

Others criticize his era as culturally and politically conservative, which sought to base the entire social and political make-up of West Germany around the personal views of a single person, one who bore a certain amount of mistrust towards his own people. His re-election campaign centered around the slogan "No Experiments."[3]

As chancellor, Adenauer tended to arrogate most major decisions to himself, treating his ministers as mere extensions of his authority. While this tendency has become somewhat less pronounced under subsequent chancellors, Adenauer established the tradition of West Germany (and later reunified Germany) as a "chancellor democracy."

The West German student movement of the late 1960s was essentially a protest against the conservatism Adenauer had personified. Another point of criticism was that Adenauer’s commitment to reconciliation with France was in stark contrast to a certain indifference towards Communist Poland. Like all other major West German political parties of the time, the CDU refused to recognize the annexation of former German territories given by the Soviets to Poland, and openly talked about regaining these territories after strengthening West Germany’s position in Europe.

In retrospect, mainly positive assessments of his chancellorship prevail, not only with the German public, which voted him the "greatest German of all time" in a 2003 television poll,[10] but even with some of today’s left-wing intellectuals, who praise his unconditional commitment to western-style democracy and European integration.[11]

Additional actions as Chancellor

Adenauer with the mother of a German POW brought home in 1955 from the Soviet Union, due to Adenauer's visit to Moscow.
  • Made a historic speech to the Bundestag in September 1951 in which he recognized the obligation of the German government to compensate Israel, as the main representative of the Jewish people, for The Holocaust. This started a process which led to the Bundestag approving a pact between Israel and Germany in 1953 outlining the reparations Germany would pay to Israel.
  • Helped secure the release of the last German prisoners of war in 1955, a decade after the end of the war.
  • Opened diplomatic relations with the USSR and other Eastern bloc nations, but refused to recognise East Germany.
  • Reached an agreement with the USA in 1957 that gave West Germany possession of weapons capable of transporting nuclear warheads. Furthermore, Adenauer pursued nuclear cooperation with other countries with a goal of Germany being able to produce its own nuclear armament, which has however never been allowed by the formers Allies to any German successor state until present (2009).
  • Oversaw the reintegration of the Saarland into West Germany in 1957.
  • Briefly considered running for the office of Federal President in 1959. However, he instead chose a candidate (Heinrich Lübke) whom he believed weak enough not to interfere with his actions as Federal Chancellor of West Germany.

For all of his efforts as West Germany’s leader, Adenauer was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year in 1953. In 1954, he received the Karlspreis (English: Charlemagne Award), an Award by the German city of Aachen to people who contributed to the European idea, European cooperation and European peace.

In his last years in office Adenauer used to take a nap after lunch and, when he was traveling abroad and had a public function to attend, he sometimes asked for a bed in a room close to where he was supposed to be speaking, so that he could rest briefly before he appeared.[12]

Adenauer found relaxation and great enjoyment in the Italian game of bocce and spent a great deal of his post political career playing this game. His favorite holiday place to do this was in Cadenabbia, Italy, in a rented villa overlooking Lake Como, which has since been acquired as a conference centre by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the German state-funded political foundation.

When, in 1967, after his death at the age of 91, Germans were asked what they admired most about Adenauer, the majority responded that he had brought home the last German prisoners of war from the USSR, which had become known as the “Return of the 10,000”.

Assassination attempt

On 27 March 1952, a package addressed to Chancellor Adenauer exploded in the Munich Police Headquarters, killing one Bavarian police officer. Two boys who had been paid to send this package by mail had brought it to the attention of the police. Investigations led to people closely related to the Herut Party and the former Irgun armed organization. The West German government kept all proof under seal in order to prevent antisemitic responses from the German public. Five Israeli suspects identified by French and German investigators were allowed to return to Israel.

One of the participants, Eliezer Sudit, later revealed that the alleged mastermind behind this assassination attempt was Menachem Begin who would later become the Prime Minister of Israel.[13] Begin had been the former commander of Irgun and at that time headed Herut and was a member of the Knesset. His goal was to undermine the attempts of the German government to seek friendly relations with Israel.[14]

David Ben-Gurion, Prime Minister of Israel, appreciated Adenauer’s response in playing down the affair and not pursuing it further, as it would have burdened the relationship between the two new states.

In June 2006 a slightly different version of this story appeared in one of Germany’s leading newspaper, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, quoted by The Guardian. Begin had offered to sell his gold watch as the conspirators ran out of money. The bomb was hidden in an encyclopedia and it killed a bomb-disposal expert, injuring two others. Adenauer was targeted because of the Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany, signed at that time, which was violently opposed by Begin. Sudit, the story’s source, explained that the “intent was not to hit Adenauer but to rouse the international media. It was clear to all of us there was no chance the package would reach Adenauer.” The five conspirators were arrested by the French police, in Paris. They “were [former] members of the ... Irgun” (the organisation had been disbanded in 1948, 4 years earlier).[15]

Political scandal

Main article: Spiegel scandal

In 1962, a scandal erupted when police under cabinet orders arrested five Der Spiegel journalists, charging them with high treason, specifically for publishing a memo detailing alleged weaknesses in the West German armed forces. The cabinet members, belonging to the Free Democratic Party, left their positions in November 1962, and Defense Minister Franz Josef Strauss, himself the chairman of the Christian Social Union, was dismissed, followed by the remaining Christian Democratic Union cabinet members. Although Adenauer managed to remain in office for almost another year, this scandal increased the pressure he was under to fulfill his promise to resign before the end of the term, and he was eventually succeeded as Chancellor by Ludwig Erhard in October 1963. He did remain chairman of the CDU until his resignation from that position in December 1966.

Adenauer's tomb

Death

Adenauer died on April 19, 1967 in his family home in Rhöndorf. According to his daughter, his last words were "Da jitt et nix zo kriesche!" (Kölsch dialect for "There's nothin' to weep about!")

His state funeral in Cologne Cathedral was attended by a large number of world leaders, among them US president Lyndon B. Johnson on his only visit to a European country while in office. After the service, his body was brought back to Rhöndorf on the Rhine aboard Kondor, a Jaguar class fast attack craft of the German Navy. He is interred on the Waldfriedhof.

Legacy

File:2002 Belgium 100 euro 3 Pioneers back.JPG
3 pioneers of the European unification commemorative coin

Adenauer has left such a legacy behind, that he was the main motive for one of the most recent and famous gold commemorative coin: the Belgian 3 pioneers of the European unification commemorative coin, minted in 2002. The obverse side shows a portrait with the names Robert Schuman, Paul-Henri Spaak and Konrad Adenauer.

Adenauer ministries

First ministry

Changes

  • 13 October 1950 - Robert Lehr (CDU) succeeds Heinemann as Minister of the Interior.
  • 15 March 1951 - Konrad Adenauer becomes Minister of Foreign Affairs as well as Chancellor when the Allies allow this post to be revived.
  • 19 July 1952 - Fritz Neumayer (FDP) succeeds Wildermuth (d.9 March) as Minister of Construction.

Second ministry

Changes

  • 7 June 1955 - Theodor Blank (CDU) becomes Minister of Defense when that post is revived.
  • 8 June 1955 - Heinrich von Brentano (CDU) succeeds Adenauer as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Hans-Joachim von Merkatz (DP) succeeds Hellwege as Minister of Bundesrat Affairs.
  • 19 October 1955 - Franz Josef Strauss (CSU) becomes Minister of Atomic Affairs
  • 12 November 1955 - Tillmanns leaves the cabinet.
  • 16 October 1956 - Franz Josef Strauss (CSU) succeeds Blank as Minister of Defense. Hans-Joachim von Merkatz succeeds Neumayr as Minister of Justice. Kraft and Schäfer leave the Cabinet. Siegfried Balke (CSU) succeeds Strauss as Minister of Atomic Affairs.
  • 15 November 1956 - Ernst Lemmer (CDU) succeeds Balke as Minister of Posts and Communications.

Third ministry

Changes

  • 13 September 1959 - Werner Schwarz (CDU) succeeds Lübke as Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Forestry.
  • 5 April 1960 - Oberländer resigns as Minister of Displaced Persons, Refugees, and War Victims.
  • 4 May 1960 - Hans Wilhelmi (CDU) succeeds Lindrath (d. 27 February) as Minister of Federal Economic Possessions.
  • 27 October 1960 - Hans-Joachim von Merkatz (CDU) becomes Minister of Displaced Persons, Refugees, and War Victims.

Fourth ministry

Changes

  • 19 November 1962 Ewald Bucher (FDP) succeeds Stammberger as Minister of Justice. Werner Dollinger (CSU) succeeds Lenz as Minister of Federal Treasure.
  • 14 December 1962 - Rolf Dahlgrün (FDP) succeeds Starke as Minister of Finance. Bruno Heck (CDU) succeeds Wuermeling as Minister of Family and Youth Affairs. Hans Lenz (FDP) enters the ministry as Minister of Scientific Research. Rainer Barzel (CDU) succeeds Lemmer as Minister of All-German Affairs. Alois Niederalt (CSU) succeeds Merkatz as Minister of Bundesrat and State Affairs. The Ministry of Nuclear Energy and Water is abolished, and Balke leaves the cabinet.
  • 9 January 1963 - Kai-Uwe von Hassel (CDU) succeeds Strauss as Minister of Defense.

References and footnotes

Encyclopedia Britannica (Macropedia) © 1989, articles on Konrad Adenauer, Helmut Kohl and Otto von Bismarck.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Konrad Adenauer.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Konrad Adenauer.
  1. ^ Williams, Charles. Adenauer, The Father of the New Germany. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2000, p. 307
  2. ^ Cornwell, John. Constantine's Sword, p. 515
  3. ^ a b Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s. New York, New York: Basic Books. p. 8. ISBN 0465041957. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ Williams, p. 464
  5. ^ Williams, p. 494; Foreign Minister Heinrich von Brentano was considered too subservient to the Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder became foreign minister [Williams, p. 495]
  6. ^ Williams, p. 375
  7. ^ Williams, p. 373
  8. ^ Williams, p. 376
  9. ^ Williams, p. 378
  10. ^ http://unserebesten.zdf.de/
  11. ^ Williams, p. 403
  12. ^ John Gunther: Inside Europe Today, Harper and Brothers, New York, 1961; Library of Congress catalog card number: 61-9706
  13. ^ Interview with H. Sietz, investigator (German)
  14. ^ Background history of assassination attempt (German)
  15. ^ Menachem Begin 'plotted to kill German chancellor' | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited
Political offices
Preceded by
Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk
(as Leitender Minister)
 Chancellor of Germany
1949–1963 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs
1951–1955 		Succeeded by

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