Biography of Adenauer, Konrad - Archontology
Adenauer, Konrad

Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer

b. 5 Jan 1876, Cologne, German Reich
d. 19 Apr 1967, Rhöndorf bei Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany

Title: Bundeskanzler (Federal Chancellor)
Term: 20 Sep 1949 - 20 Oct 1953
Chronology: 15 Sep 1949, elected, 3rd session of the first Bundestag, Ersatzplenarsaal, Bundeshaus (former Pädagogische Akademie), Bonn [1]
  15 Sep 1949, appointed by the Bundespräsident (Federal President) [2]
  20 Sep 1949, oath of office taken, 5th session of the first Bundestag, Ersatzplenarsaal, Bundeshaus (former Pädagogische Akademie), Bonn [3]
Term: 20 Oct 1953 - 29 Oct 1957
Chronology: 9 Oct 1953, elected, 2nd session of the second Bundestag, Plenarsaal, Bundeshaus, Bonn [4]
  13 Oct 1953, appointed by the Bundespräsident (Federal President) [5]
  20 Oct 1953, oath of office taken, 3rd session of the second Bundestag, Plenarsaal, Bundeshaus, Bonn [6]
Term: 29 Oct 1957 - 14 Nov 1961
Chronology: 22 Oct 1957, elected, 2nd session of the third Bundestag, Plenarsaal, Bundeshaus, Bonn [7]
  22 Oct 1957, appointed by the Bundespräsident (Federal President) [8]
  29 Oct 1957, oath of office taken, 3rd session of the third Bundestag, Plenarsaal, Bundeshaus, Bonn [8]
Term: 14 Nov 1961 - 15 Oct 1963
Chronology: 7 Nov 1961, elected, 2nd session of the fourth Bundestag, Plenarsaal, Bundeshaus, Bonn [9]
  9 Nov 1961, appointed by the Bundespräsident (Federal President) [10]
  14 Nov 1961, oath of office taken, 4th session of the fourth Bundestag, Plenarsaal, Bundeshaus, Bonn [10]
  15 Oct 1963, discharged (expiration of term set at 24:00 15 Oct 1963) by the Bundespräsident (Federal President) acting on the letter of resignation dated 10 Oct 1963 [11]
Biography:

The son of a Cologne civil servant; was reared in a Roman Catholic family; studied law and political science at the universities of Freiburg im Breisgau, Munich and Bonn (1894-1897); joined (1905) the Deutsche Zentrumspartei (German Centre Party), representing the Roman Catholics; was elected a member of the Cologne municipal council (Beigeordneter, 1906-1909; erster Beigeordneter, 1909-1917); chosen Bürgermeister of Cologne (18 Sep 1917) and subsequently approved (6 Oct 1917) as Oberbürgermeister (took office 18 Oct 1917); elected to the Prussian Herrenhaus (upper chamber of the parliament) (1918); called for creation of a west German state in association with the German Reich; chosen president of the Prussian Council of State (Preußischer Staatsrat) (7 May 1921 - 26 Apr 1933); was considered a potential candidate for the Reichskanzler (Reich Chancellor), but Wilhelm Marx was appointed instead (17 May 1926); fled Cologne (13 Mar 1933) with the advent of the Nazi to power and later was declared suspended from the office (notified 4 Apr 1933); formally relieved of his duties as Oberbürgermeister (17 Jul 1933); lived in retirement (1933-1944); was sent to a concentration camp (1944); restored as Oberbürgermeister of Cologne by the U.S. military authorities (4 May 1945 - 6 Oct 1945), but removed from the office by the British; founder (1946) of the Christian Democratic Union (Christlich-Demokratische Union, CDU); was elected chairman of the CDU section (1 Mar 1946) in the British zone of occupation; became the CDU parliamentary leader (2 Oct 1946) in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia; was elected (1 Sep 1948) president of the Parlamentarischer Rat (Parliamentary Council), summoned for creating the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany (held last plenary session on 23 May 1949); became a member of the Bundestag (1949-1967); nominated (15 Sep 1949) for Bundeskanzler (Federal Chancellor) by the Bundestag and appointed (16 Sep 1949) to the office by Bundespräsident (Federal President); formed a coalition government of the Christian Democrats with the Free Democrats (Freie Demokratische Partei) and the German Party (Deutsche Partei); took the portfolio of foreign minister (15 Mar 1951 - 7 Jun 1955); worked for political consolidation of Germany and achievement of economic revival under the formula of "social market economics"; was elected federal chairman of the CDU (21 Oct 1950 - 23 Mar 1966); secured his reelection (9 Oct 1953) as Federal Chancellor following the victory of the Christian and Free Democrats at parliamentary election; pursued a policy of linking Germany with the Western world by joining (1955) to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and to the European Economic Community (1957); formed third government (1957) with absolute majority of CDU/CSU in the Bundestag; was named the CDU/CSU candidate (7 Apr 1959) at the presidential elections scheduled for 1 Jul 1959 (candidacy withdrawn on 5 Jun 1959 to be replaced with Heinrich Lübke, who became Federal President); despite the loss of a number of seats in the Bundestag (1961), was reelected Federal Chancellor by a narrow majority and formed the third coalition with the Free Democrats; signed a long-sought treaty of cooperation with France (1963); tendered his resignation and stepped down as Federal Chancellor (15 Oct 1963) with appointment of successor; served as Alterspräsident (president by age) of the Bundestag (19 Oct 1965). Biography source: [12][13]

Elections:

Dates 15 Sep 1949 9 Oct 1953 22 Oct 1957 7 Nov 1961
Bundestag members/absolute majority 402/202 487/244 497/249 499/250
Votes cast 389 467 (+22) 476 (+21) 490 (+19)
Yes 202 305 (+11) 274 (+8) 258 (+8)
No 142 148 (+11) 193 (+13) 206 (+10)
Abstentions 44 14 9 26 (+1)
Invalid 1 0 0 0
Election results (votes of the representatives of Berlin are shown in parentheses). 1949: three ballots had Adenauer instead of yes, violating the presidential instructions; they were validated by a vote of the Bundestag by show of hands; 1953: initial calculation, which was later rectified: votes cast 466 (+22), votes with yes 304 (+11), 148 (+11), abstentions 14. Sources for vote counting: [1][4][7][9]

[1] Verhandlungen des Deutschen Bundestages - Stenographische Berichte (Bonn, 1950-1990; Berlin, 1990-), 1. Wahlperiode, Bd. 1, S. 14.
[2] The actual date on an instrument of appointment is BONN, DEN 15. SEPTEMBER 1949 [facsimile copy is published in "Adenauer - Rhöndorfer Ausgabe: Adenauer Briefe 1949-1951", ed. by Hans Peter Mensing (Berlin: Siedler Verlag, 1985), p. 110]; it is also mentioned in Adenauer's speech of 20 Sep 1949. See Verhandlungen des Deutschen Bundestages - Stenographische Berichte (Bonn, 1950-1990; Berlin, 1990-), 1. Wahlperiode, Bd. 1, S. 22.
[3] Verhandlungen des Deutschen Bundestages - Stenographische Berichte (Bonn, 1950-1990; Berlin, 1990-), 1. Wahlperiode, Bd. 1, S. 21.
[4] Verhandlungen des Deutschen Bundestages - Stenographische Berichte (Bonn, 1950-1990; Berlin, 1990-), 2. Wahlperiode, Bd. 18, S. 8.
[5] Verhandlungen des Deutschen Bundestages - Stenographische Berichte (Bonn, 1950-1990; Berlin, 1990-), 2. Wahlperiode, Bd. 18, S. 9.
[6] Verhandlungen des Deutschen Bundestages - Stenographische Berichte (Bonn, 1950-1990; Berlin, 1990-), 2. Wahlperiode, Bd. 18, S. 10.
[7] Verhandlungen des Deutschen Bundestages - Stenographische Berichte (Bonn, 1950-1990; Berlin, 1990-), 3. Wahlperiode, Bd. 39, S. 13-14.
[8] Verhandlungen des Deutschen Bundestages - Stenographische Berichte (Bonn, 1950-1990; Berlin, 1990-), 3. Wahlperiode, Bd. 39, S. 15.
[9] Verhandlungen des Deutschen Bundestages - Stenographische Berichte (Bonn, 1950-1990; Berlin, 1990-), 4. Wahlperiode, Bd. 50, S. 10.
[10] Verhandlungen des Deutschen Bundestages - Stenographische Berichte (Bonn, 1950-1990; Berlin, 1990-), 4. Wahlperiode, Bd. 50, S. 13.
[11] Verhandlungen des Deutschen Bundestages - Stenographische Berichte (Bonn, 1950-1990; Berlin, 1990-), 4. Wahlperiode, Bd. 53, S. 4161; the facsimile copy of an instrument of discharge issued for Adenauer is dated "Bonn, den 15. Oktober 1963" and published in "Heuss - Adenauer: Unserem Vaterlande zugute. Der Briefwechsel 1948-63" (Berlin: Siedler Verlag, 1989), p. 341: "... Ich nehme seinen Rücktritt an. Sein Amtsverhältnis... endet mit Ablauf des 15. Oktober..."
[12] "Adenauer: der Aufstieg 1876-1952", by Hans-Peter Schwarz (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1986).
[13] "Adenauer: der Staatsmann: 1952-1967", by Hans-Peter Schwarz (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1991).