Roman Herzog

Roman Herzog
Roman Herzog in 2006
7th President of the Federal Republic of Germany
In office July 1, 1994 – June 30, 1999
Chancellor	Helmut Kohl Gerhard Schröder
Preceded by	Richard von Weizsäcker
Succeeded by	Johannes Rau
6th President of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
In office November 16, 1987 – June 30, 1994
Preceded by	Wolfgang Zeidler
Succeeded by	Jutta Limbach
Born	April 5, 1934 (1934-04-05) (age 76) Landshut, Bavaria, Germany
Nationality	German
Political party	Christian Democratic Union
Spouse(s)	Christiane Krauß (marr. 1959 to 2000) Alexandra Freifrau von Berlichingen
Alma mater	Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Evangelicalism
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Roman Herzog (born 5 April 1934) is a German politician (CDU) and was the President of Germany from 1994 to 1999. He was the first President of the Federal Republic of Germany to be elected to office after the reunification of Germany that took place in 1990, and the second person to serve as all-German head of State since the end of WWII.

Biography

Roman Herzog was born in Landshut, Bavaria in 1934 to a Protestant family.

He studied law in Munich and took his first juristic state exam in 1957. In 1958, he gained the title Doctor juris and worked as an assistant at the University of Munich until 1964, where he also passed his second juristic state exam. For his paper Die Wesensmerkmale der Staatsorganisation in rechtlicher und entwicklungsgeschichtlicher Sicht ("Characteristics of State Organization from a Juristic and Developmental-Historical Viewpoint"), in 1964 he was awarded the title of professor, a title of academic distinction in Germany, and taught at the University of Munich until 1966. From 1966 he taught state law and political science as a full professor at the Free University of Berlin (FUB). In 1969 he accepted an administrative position at the FUB in Speyer, and was the University President from 1971 to 1972.

In 1973 his political career began as a representative of the state (Land) of Rhineland-Palatinate with the Federal government in Bonn. He was minister for culture and sports in the Baden-Württemberg State Government from 1978. In 1980 he was elected to the State Parliament (Landtag), and took over the state Ministry of the Interior.

Roman Herzog has also always been active in the Evangelical Church in Germany. Until 1980 he was head of the Chamber for public responsibility of this church and since 1982 he has been a member of the synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany.

In 1983 he became a judge at the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (“Bundesverfassungsgericht”) in Karlsruhe. From 1987 until 1994, he also served as the president of this Court, until he was elected President of Germany by the Federal Assembly (Bundesversammlung) in 1994. He retained this position until 1999, when he was succeeded by Johannes Rau.

In 1994 Herzog participated in the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising during the Nazi occupation of Poland. In a widely commended speech he paid tribute to the Polish fighters and people and asked Poles for "forgiveness for what has been done to you by the Germans".^[1]

Between December 1999 and October 2000, he was chair of the European Convention which drafted the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

His wife, Christiane Herzog, died on 19 June 2000. He later married Alexandra Freifrau von Berlichingen.

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References

• "Roman Herzog (1994 - 1999)". http://www.bundespraesident.de/en/dokumente/-,5.623236/Artikel/dokument.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-25. 
• "Roman Herzog (1994 - 1999)" (in German). http://www.bundespraesident.de/Die-deutschen-Bundespraesident/-,11067/Roman-Herzog.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-25. 

Presidents of the Federal Republic of Germany Theodor Heuss · Heinrich Lübke · Gustav Heinemann · Walter Scheel · Karl Carstens · Richard von Weizsäcker · Roman Herzog · Johannes Rau · Horst Köhler · Christian Wulff