Richard von Weizsäcker
| Richard von Weizsäcker | |
 Richard von Weizsäcker in 1984 |
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| In office 1 July 1984 – 30 June 1994 |
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| Chancellor | Helmut Kohl |
| Preceded by | Karl Carstens(West Germany) Sabine Bergmann-Pohl (East Germany) |
| Succeeded by | Roman Herzog |
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| Born | 15 April 1920 Stuttgart, Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Political party | Christian Democratic Union |
| Spouse(s) | Marianne Freifrau (Baroness) von Weizsäcker |
| Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford University of Grenoble University of Göttingen |
| Religion | Protestantism |
| Signature |  |
Richard Karl Freiherr von Weizsäcker listen (born 15 April 1920), known as Richard von Weizsäcker, is a German politician (CDU). He served as Governing Mayor of West Berlin from 1981 to 1984, and as President of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1984 to 1994. During his period in office German unity was accomplished through the incorporation of the territory of the former Geman Democratic Republic into the Federal Republic of Germany, and he thus became the first president of the reunited Germany.
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Early life
Weizsäcker was born in the New Castle in Stuttgart, the son of diplomat and politician Ernst von Weizsäcker and Marianne, née von Graevenitz, a member of the noted Weizsäcker family. He has two brothers, the physicist and philosopher Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker and Heinrich von Weizsäcker, who was killed in action in 1939. His grandfather Karl von Weizsäcker was Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Württemberg, and was ennobled in 1897 and raised to the hereditary title of Baron (Freiherr) in 1916. Because his father was a career diplomat, he spent much of his childhood in Switzerland and Scandinavia. The family lived in Basel 1920-1924, in Copenhagen 1924-1926, in Oslo 1931-1933, and in Berne 1933-1936, where Richard von Weizsäcker attended the Swiss Gymnasium Kirchenfeld. The family relocated to Berlin in 1936.
When he was 17 years old, he moved to Britain, where he studied philosophy and history at Balliol College, Oxford. He subsequently also studied at the University of Grenoble in France. After the outbreak of World War II, he served in the German Army, ultimately as a Captain in the Reserves. He was wounded in East Prussia in 1945 and transported home to Stuttgart. Then he continued his study of history in Göttingen and eventually studied law.
He took his first legal state exam in 1950, the second in 1953, and earned his doctorate (doctor juris) in 1955. In 1953 he married Marianne von Kretschmann; they have four children: Robert Klaus von Weizsäcker, a Professor of Economics at the University of Munich, Andreas von Weizsäcker, an art professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich, Beatrice von Weizsäcker, a lawyer and journalist, and Fritz Eckart von Weizsäcker, a Professor of Medicine.
Richard von Weizsäcker worked for Mannesmann 1950-1958, as a scientific assistant until 1953, as a legal councel from 1953 and as head of the department for economic policy from 1957. From 1958 to 1962, he was head of the Waldthausen Bank, a bank owned by relatives of his wife. From 1962 to 1966, he served on the board of directors of Boehringer Ingelheim, a pharmaceutical company.
Political career
Weizsäcker joined the CDU in 1954, becoming a member of the Bundestag (German Parliament) in 1969, serving until 1981. In 1981 he was elected vice president of the Bundestag (1979–1981) and then Governing Mayor (Regierender Bürgermeister) of West Berlin (1981–1984). He was elected President of Germany by the Bundesversammlung (Federal Convention) in 1984, succeeding Karl Carstens.
Weizsäcker is known for his speeches. Because of the high esteem in which he is held by Germany's political establishment, Weizsäcker is so far the only candidate to have stood for elections for the office of President uncontested; he was elected in such a way to a second term of office on 23 May 1989. He took office for his second presidential term on 1 July 1989. His second term oversaw the end of the Cold War and Reunification of Germany. Upon reunification, Weizsäcker became the first all-German Head of State since the end of World War II.
Weizsäcker stretched the traditionally ceremonial position of Germany’s president to reach across political, national, and generational boundaries to address a wide range of controversial issues.
In his public addresses and writings, Weizsäcker has been a strong and articulate advocate of democratic principles, tolerance, and social responsibility. He has been actively involved in food aid activities targeted at relieving global hunger problems.
He was a member of the Synod and the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany from 1967-1984.
Although now an elder statesman, Weizsäcker is still involved in politics and charitable affairs. He was the chair of a commission installed by the then Social Democratic-Green government for reforming the Bundeswehr.
Weizsäcker has served on many international commissions. He was chairman of the Independent Working Group on the future of the United Nations and was one of three "Wise Men" appointed by European Commission President Romano Prodi to consider the future of the European Union.
Weizsäcker's publications include Von Deutschland aus; Die deutsche Geschichte geht weiter; Von Deutschland nach Europa; and Vier Zeiten. His memoirs have been published as From Weimar to the Wall: My Life in German Politics (1999). He has received many honors in his career, including an honorary doctorate from Johns Hopkins University in 1993 and the creation of the Richard von Weizsäcker Professorship at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of Johns Hopkins University and the Robert Bosch Foundation of Stuttgart in 2003, and more than 11 other honorary doctorates, ranging from the Weizmann Institute in Israel to Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard universities, the Charles University in Prague and the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras[1], the Leo Baeck Prize from the Central Council of Jews in Germany, and the Buber-Rosenzweig Medallion from the Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation.
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| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Karl Carstens |
President of Germany 1984 – 1994 |
Succeeded by Roman Herzog |
| Preceded by Hans-Jochen Vogel |
Mayor of West Berlin 1981– 1984 |
Succeeded by Eberhard Diepgen |
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