Konrad Adenauer's Biography

Konrad Adenauer was born in Cologne on 5 January 1876, and died on 19 April 1967.

Adenauer was the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany 1949-63.

Previously, Adenauer had been President of the Prussian State Council from 1920 to 1933, when he was dismissed from office by the Nazis. He was twice imprisoned (1933 and 1944) by the Nazis.

Co-founder of the Christian Democratic Union (1945), Konrad Adenauer was made Lord Mayor under the Allied Occupation.

After he became the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Konrad Adenauer played a crucial role in the political and economic transformation of Germany.

On 12 July 1952, Konrad Adenauer, in renunciation of a nationalistic fury for a common European dream, declared:

"I believe that for the first time in history, certainly in the history of the last centuries, countries want to renounce part of their sovereignty, voluntarily and without compulsion, in order to transfer that sovereignty to a supranational structure."

Konrad Adenauer's speech was ranked 22 in the top 25 political speeches.