Historical Figures Codexery

Konrad Adenauer

First Chancellor of West Germany and CDU leader from 1946 to 1966.

He was born in Cologne on 5 January 1876 and became a leading politician of the Catholic Centre Party during the Weimar Republic.[1][2]

Quick Facts

Took office
15 September 1949
Left office
16 October 1963
President
Theodor Heuss; Heinrich Lübke
Predecessor
Office re-established
Successor
Ludwig Erhard

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

As mayor, he rebuilt the University of Cologne and masterminded the construction of a bridge across the Rhine.[3] He was president of the Prussian State Council from 1921 to 1933.[4] He was imprisoned for two days after the Night of the Long Knives on 30 June 1934.[5] After World War II, the American army installed him as Mayor of Cologne, but the British military government dismissed him in December 1945.[6][4]

He then devoted himself to building the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).[4] Adenauer was elected Chancellor on 15 September 1949 with the support of his own CDU, the Christian Social Union, the Free Democratic Party, and the German Party.[7] He retired as chancellor in 1963, remaining head of the CDU until 1966.[8] Adenauer pursued studies in law and politics at the University of Freiburg, the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, and the University of Bonn, completing his degree in 1900.[9][10]

Following the Nazi seizure of power, Adenauer received official dismissal from his mayoral post on 4 April 1933, and his bank accounts were subsequently frozen.[11]

What the cited sources add

The Directorate-General for Communication account states that Adenauer's marriage into an influential Cologne family led him to become active in politics.[12] The Directorate-General for Communication account describes Adenauer as a great proponent of the European Coal and Steel Community, launched with the Schuman Declaration on 9 May 1950.[12] The same source indicates that following the unsuccessful 1944 assassination plot against Hitler, authorities imprisoned Adenauer at the Gestapo prison in Cologne, known as Brauweiler.[12]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Konrad Adenauer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Konrad Adenauer (1876–1967)"; Richard Hiscocks, The Adenauer era (1975) p. 290 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Konrad Adenauer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Government Leaders, Military Rulers, and Political Activists", Oryx Press, 2001, p. 4 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Konrad Adenauer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Vincent, "A Historical Dictionary of Germany's Weimar Republic, 1918–1933", p. 4–5 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Konrad Adenauer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Schwarz 1995, p. 94 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Konrad Adenauer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cited by Peter Koch: Adenauer. Reinbek 1985; Letter to the Prussian Interior Minister of 10 August 1934 (after his firing), available online in: https://www.konrad-adenauer.de/seite/10-august-1934/ . Addit; Augstein, "Ein Hohenzoller oder meinetwegen auch Hitler", Der Spiegel, 29 September 1986 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Konrad Adenauer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ziemke, "The US Army in the Occupation of Germany, 1944–1946", Center of Military History, United States Army, 1975, p. 189–190 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Konrad Adenauer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kellen, "Adenauer at 90", Foreign Affairs, January 1966, p. 275–290; Frum, "How We Got Here: The 1970s", Basic Books, 2000, p. 8 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. "Konrad Adenauer (1876–1967)". facts only, no text reused. bbc.co.uk
  9. Wikipedia, "Konrad Adenauer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hoffmann, "Adenauer: The Father of the New Germany", Foreign Affairs, 2001, p. 141 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Konrad Adenauer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Government Leaders, Military Rulers, and Political Activists", Oryx Press, 2001, p. 4; "Lebenslauf – Ein kurzer Überblick", Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Konrad Adenauer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Williams 2001, p. 201 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. "Konrad Adenauer: a pragmatic democrat and tireless unifier", Directorate-General for Communication. facts only, no text reused. european-union.europa.eu

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Konrad Adenauer (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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