Konrad Adenauer

Konrad Adenauer was born in Germany in 1876. He studied at Freiburg University before becoming a lawyer in Cologne. In 1917 Adenauer became Mayor of Cologne.

Adenauer, a member of the Catholic Centre Party, was elected to the Provincial Diet and in 1920 became President of the Prussian State Council. A strong opponent of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, Adenauer was imprisoned in 1934. He was released but was arrested by the Gestapo in September 1944 and accused of being involved in the July Plot.

After the war Adenauer was briefly Mayor of Cologne but was removed by the British authorities for alleged inefficiency. In 1945 he helped establish the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and in 1949 became the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). He held power for the next fourteen years and during that time played an important role in restoring good relations with France and the United States.

In 1950 Adenauer appointed Walter Hallstein as undersecretary of state and was leader of the German delegation at the Schuman Plan Conference. In this post he developed what became known as the Hallstein Doctrine. According to this doctrine, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) had exclusive right to represent the entire German nation. Except for the Soviet Union, the government refused to maintain diplomatic relations with states that recognized the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).

Konrad Adenauer, who retired from office in October 1963, died in 1967.