Bernhard Vogel (; 19 December 1932 – 2 March 2025) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was the 4th Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1976 to 1988 and the second Minister President of Thuringia from 1992 to 2003. He was the only person to have been head of two different German federal states and was the longest-governing Minister President of Germany. He served as the 28th and 40th President of the Bundesrat in 1976 to 1977 and 1987 to 1988.
Life and career
Early life and education
Vogel was born in Göttingen on 19 December 1932 and grew up in Giessen. and began studies in political science, history, sociology, and economics, first at Heidelberg University and then at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. He became a lecturer there the following year, also working in adult education.
Political career
In 1960, Vogel joined the CDU. In 1963, Vogel was elected to the municipal council of Heidelberg, but resigned two years later, following his election to the Bundestag.
In December 1976, Vogel became Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate to replace Kohl, who had been elected a federal deputy. until 31 October 1977, at the same time becoming chairman of the supervisory board of the Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF),Germany's second-largest public broadcaster. In the regional elections of March 1979 he maintained a bare majority of his party, with 50% of the vote and 51 regional deputies out of 100. In March 1983 the party improved its position, obtaining 52% of the vote and 57 deputies. Vogel became vice-president of the European Democratic Union (EDU) in 1985 and again won the regional elections on 17 May 1987 but with only a plurality of 45.1% of the vote and 48 deputies elected out of 100, ending the sixteen-year absolute majority of Christian Democrats. Vogel's failure to be re-elected as state chair of his party in 1988 led to his resignation as Minister President in a famous speech which he ended with the often-quoted phrase: "May God protect Rhineland-Palatinate!", an unusual display of public piety by German standards.
After his resignation, Vogel concentrated on the management of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, of which he became chairman in 1989. From 1993 to 1999, he was chairman of the Thuringian CDU. In the 1999 elections, the CDU achieved an absolute majority. For reasons of age, Vogel resigned from office as Minister-President on 5 June 2003.
Life after politics
thumb|upright|Vogel in 2019
From 2001 until 2009, Vogel served again as president of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin.
In 2012, Vogel was awarded the Mercator Visiting Professorship for Political Management at the Universität Essen-Duisburg's NRW School of Governance. He gave both seminars and lectures at the university.
Vogel was nominated by his party as delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2022.
Personal life and death
thumb|upright|Gravestone of Bernhard Vogel with his brother [[Hans-Jochen Vogel, who died in 2020, his wife Liselotte and his parents in Munich]]
Vogel was a devout Roman Catholic. He was single and had no children. His brother was the SPD politician Hans-Jochen Vogel (1926–2020), a former mayor of Munich and Berlin, federal minister of justice and candidate for chancellorship. since 1965.
Vogel died in Speyer on 2 March 2025, at the age of 92.
Other activities
Corporate boards
- Deutsche Vermögensberatung (DVAG), member of the advisory board
Non-profit organizations
- donum vitae, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2001)
- CARE Deutschland-Luxemburg, member of the board of trustees
- Eugen Biser Foundation, member of the board of trustees
- European Foundation for the Speyer Cathedral, member of the board of trustees
- Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), member of the board of trustees
- Willy Brandt Foundation, member of the board of trustees
Awards
- 1984 Grand Cross 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany