Johannes Rau (; 16 January 193127 January 2006) was a German politician who served as President of Germany from 1999 to 2004. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he previously served as the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1978 to 1998. In the latter role, he also served as President of the Bundesrat in 1982–1983 and in 1994–1995.

Education and work

Rau was born in the Barmen part of Wuppertal, Rhine Province, as the third of five children. His family was strongly Protestant. As a schoolboy, Rau was active in the Confessing Church, which resisted Nazism. Rau left school in 1949 and worked as a publisher, especially with the Protestant Youth Publishing House.

Political career

Rau was a member of the All-German People's Party (GVP), which was founded by Gustav Heinemann. The party was known for proposing German reunification from 1952 until it was disbanded in 1957.

In 1958, the pacifist Rau and his political mentor, Gustav Heinemann, joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), where he was active in the Wuppertal chapter. He served as deputy chairman of the SPD party of Wuppertal and was elected later on to the City Council (1964–1978), where he served as chairman of the SPD Group (1964–1967) and later as Mayor (1969–1970).

In July 1958, Rau was elected for the first time as a member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1967, he became chairman of the SPD fraction in the Landtag, and from 1970 to 1975, he was Minister of Science and Education in the second cabinet of Minister President Heinz Kühn. He soon gained a reputation as a reformer. As part of the mass education campaign of the 1970s, he founded five universities, each at different sites, in North Rhine-Westphalia and initiated Germany's first distance learning university at Hagen (modelled on the British Open University).

In 1977, Rau became Chairman of the SPD North Rhine-Westphalia and, in 1978, Minister President of the state, which he remained until 1998, with four successful elections for the SPD, which became strongest party in the Landtag each time and gained an absolute majority three times, in 1980, 1985, 1990 and finally 1995. From 1995 onwards, Rau led an SPD-Greens coalition in North Rhine-Westphalia. Rau twice served as President of the Bundesrat in 1982–1983 and 1994–1995.

In 1987, Rau was his party's candidate to become chancellor of Germany for the SPD, but he lost the 1987 West German federal election against Helmut Kohl's Christian Democrats (CDU). In 1994, Rau was a candidate to become President of Germany but lost the 1994 German presidential election to Roman Herzog.

In June 1998, Rau stepped down from his positions as SPD chairman and Minister President, and in the 1999 German presidential election on 23 May 1999, he was elected President of Germany by the Federal Assembly of Germany to succeed Roman Herzog (CDU).

On 1 July 2004, he was succeeded by Horst Köhler. In common with all other Federal presidents Rau was honored by a Großer Zapfenstreich. At his request the hymn "Jesus bleibet meine Freude" (literally "that Jesus remain my Joy", but commonly Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring) was included.

In February 2000, Rau became the first German head of state to address the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in German.

The controversial step prompted some Israeli delegates to walk out. However, Israeli President Moshe Katsav supported and praised him for bridging the gap between the two states. Rau had a deep and lifelong commitment to bringing reconciliation between Germany and its past.

Death

thumb|Rau's grave the day after his burial

Rau had a long history of heart disease and died 11 days after his 75th birthday on 27 January 2006. The funeral took place on 7 February following a funeral act of state at the Dorotheenstadt cemetery in Berlin in the closest of family and friends.

Motto and maxim

The maxim of Rau was "to reconcile, not divide".

As his personal motto, Rau adopted the Confessing Church dictum "teneo, quia teneor" ("I hold because I am held").

In his acceptance speech after his election, Rau claimed, "I never want to be a nationalist but rather a patriot. A patriot is someone who loves his fatherland. A nationalist is someone who condemns the fatherland of others." The quote can be attributed to the French writer Romain Gary.

Private life

Rau was known as a practising Christian (sometimes known as , "Brother John", in reference to his intense Christian faith).

  • : Collar of the Order of the White Lion (2000)
  • : Knight of the Order of the Elephant (2002)
  • : Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana
  • : Knight Grand Cross with Collar Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
  • : Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Falcon (2003)
  • : Member 2nd Class, then, 1st Class with Chain of the Order of the Three Stars
  • : Honorary Companions of Honour with Collar of the National Order of Merit
  • : Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav
  • : Knight of the Order of the White Eagle
  • : Grand Cross (or 1st Class) of the Order of the White Double Cross (2001)
  • : Knight of the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (2002)
  • : Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim
  • : Member 1st Class of the Order of the State of Republic of Turkey (2000)
  • : Knight with the Collar of the Order of Pope Pius IX
  • Olympic Order (2004)
  • Leo Baeck Medal (1996)

See also

  • Politics of Germany

References

  • www.bundespraesident.de: Johannes Rau — Official biography
  • online book of condolence for Johannes Rau

<!-- Orders and honours -->