Johannes Rau
12th President of Germany 8th President of the Federal Republic of Germany
In office July 1, 1999 – June 30, 2004
Preceded by	Roman Herzog
Succeeded by	Horst Köhler
Born	January 16, 1931(1931-01-16) Wuppertal, Germany
Died	January 27, 2006 (aged 75) Berlin, Germany
Nationality	German
Spouse	Christina Rau
Profession	Journalist
Religion	Evangelical Church in the Rhineland (Protestant)

Johannes Rau (January 16, 1931, Wuppertal – January 27, 2006, Berlin) was a German politician of the SPD. He was the eighth President of the Federal Republic of Germany from July 1, 1999 until June 30, 2004 and prime minister of North Rhine Westfalia from 1978 to 1998. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 452 × 600 pixels Full resolution (772 × 1024 pixel, file size: 170 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Johannes Rau President of Germany... The President of Germany is Germanys head of state. ... The Federal Republic of Germany can refer to two things: West Germany from 1949-1990 Germany since German reunification in 1990 ... is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Roman Herzog (born April 5, 1934) is a German politician (CDU) and was the President of Germany from 1994 to 1999. ... Dr. Horst Köhler ( , born 22 February 1943) is the current President of Germany. ... is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany_(2-3). ... Wuppertal university Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... is the 27th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Wuppertal university Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... is the 27th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... SPD redirects here. ... The President of Germany is Germanys head of state. ... is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A minister-president (Ministerpräsident) is the head of government of a German federal state; the office corresponds to the governorship of a state in the United States. ... Coat of arms Location Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DEA Capital Düsseldorf Prime Minister Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU) Governing parties CDU / FDP Votes in Bundesrat 6 (from 69) Basic statistics Area  34,084 km² (13,160 sq mi) Population 18,033,000...

Education and work

He was born in Barmen, Wuppertal as the third of five children. His family was strongly Protestant. As a schoolboy Rau was active in the Confessing Church, a circle of the German Protestant Church which actively resisted Nazism. Barmen is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal. ... Wuppertal university Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... The Confessing Church (Bekennende Kirche) was a Christian resistance movement in Nazi Germany. ... National Socialism redirects here. ...

Rau left school in 1949 and worked as a journalist and publisher, especially with the Protestant Youth Publishing House.

Political biography

Rau was a member of the All-German People's Party (GVP), which was founded by Gustav Heinemann. This party was known for proposing German reunification, from 1952 until it was disbanded in 1957. The All-German Peoples Party, in German Gesamtdeutsche Volkspartei (GVP) was a political party in the Federal Republic of Germany. ... Gustav Walter Heinemann (July 23, 1899 - July 7, 1976) was a German politician. ...

In 1958 he and his political mentor Gustav Heinemann joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SDP), where he was active in the Wuppertal chapter. He served as deputy chairman of the SDP party of Wuppertal, and was elected later on to the City Council (1964-1978), where he served as chairman of the SDP Group (1964-1967) and later as Mayor (1969-1970). SPD redirects here. ... Wuppertal university Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ...

In 1958 Rau was elected for the first time as member of the Landtag (state parliament) of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). In 1967 he became chairman of the SPD fraction in the Landtag, and in 1970 Minister of Science and Education in the 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 Open University). Coat of arms Location Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DEA Capital Düsseldorf Prime Minister Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU) Governing parties CDU / FDP Votes in Bundesrat 6 (from 69) Basic statistics Area  34,084 km² (13,160 sq mi) Population 18,033,000... Distance Learning is learning carried out apart from the usual classroom setting; in an asynchronous setting. ... Hagen is the 37th largest city in Germany, located in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. ... Affiliations Alliance of Non-Aligned Universities, Association of Commonwealth Universities, European Association of Distance Teaching Universities, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Website http://www. ...

In 1977 Rau became Chairman of the North Rhine-Westphalia SPD, and in 1978 Minister President of the state, were 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 NRW. The Alliance 90/The Greens (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), the German Green party, is a political party in Germany whose regional predecessors were founded in the late 1970s as part of the new social movements. ...

In 1987 Rau tried to become chancellor of Germany for the SPD, but his refusal to contemplate forming a coalition with the Green Party meant he could not win the elections against Helmut Kohl's Christian Democrats (CDU). In 1994 Rau tried for the first time to become Federal President, but lost to Roman Herzog. Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (born April 3, 1930) is a German conservative politician and statesman. ... The Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU — Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands) is the second largest political party in Germany. ... Roman Herzog (born April 5, 1934) is a German politician (CDU) and was the President of Germany from 1994 to 1999. ...

Rau twice served as President of the Bundesrat in 1982/83 and 1994/95, and thus deputised for the Federal President. In 1998 Rau stepped down from his positions as SPD Chairman and Minister President, and on May 23, 1999, was elected Federal President by the Federal Assembly of Germany to succeed Roman Herzog (CDU). On July 1, 2004, he was succeeded by Horst Köhler. In Germany, the President of the Bundesrat (German: Bundesratspräsident) is the bodys chairperson or speaker. ... The Bundesrat (federal council) is the representation of the 16 Federal States (Länder) of Germany at the federal level. ... is the 143rd day of the year (144th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... The President of Germany is Germanys head of state. ... ... Roman Herzog (born April 5, 1934) is a German politician (CDU) and was the President of Germany from 1994 to 1999. ... is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dr. Horst Köhler ( , born 22 February 1943) is the current President of Germany. ...

In 2000 Rau was the first German head of state since the Holocaust to address the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in German. This 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 life-long commitment to bringing reconciliation between Germany and its past. For other uses, see Holocaust (disambiguation) and Shoah (disambiguation). ... The modern Knesset building, Israels parliament, in Jerusalem Though similar-sounding, Beit Knesset (בית כנסת) literally means House of Assembly, and refers to a synagogue. ... Moshe Katsav (Hebrew: , originally Mussa Ghassäb Persian: ; born December 5, 1945) is the eighth and current President of Israel (since 2000). ...

Following a long history of heart disease, he died a few days after his 75th birthday.

Rau's grave on the day of his burial.

Johannes Rau at Schloss Bellevue in 2002.

Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Schloss Bellevue Bellevue Palace (German: Schloss Bellevue) is a château north of the Tiergarten park in Berlin. ...

Motto and maxim

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

As his personal motto he adopted the Confessing Church dictum "teneo, quia teneor" (I hold because I am held). The Confessing Church (Bekennende Kirche) was a Christian resistance movement in Nazi Germany. ...

In his acceptance speech after his election he claimed "A patriot I will be" because "a patriot is someone who loves his fatherland, a nationalist is someone who despises the fatherlands of the others". The quote can be attributed to the French writer Romain Gary. Romain Gary (May 8, 1914 – December 2, 1980) was a French novelist, film director, World War II pilot, and diplomat. ...

Prizes and medals

Rau was awarded fifteen honorary doctorates.

Private life

Johannes Rau was known as a practising Christian (and sometimes titled Bruder Johannes, "Brother John", to ridicule his intense Christian position; however, he sometimes used this term himself). He has held lay positions in, and was a member of the Synod of, the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland. A synod (also known as a council) is a council of a church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. ...

On August 9, 1982 he married the political scientist Christina Delius (* 1956). Christina Rau is a granddaughter of her husband's mentor, Gustav Heinemann, former President of Germany. The couple had three children: Anna Christina, born 1983, Philip Immanuel, born 1985 and Laura Helene, born 1986. is the 221st day of the year (222nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... Gustav Walter Heinemann (July 23, 1899 - July 7, 1976) was a German politician. ... The President of Germany is Germanys head of state. ...

After leaving office, Rau lived with his family in the federal capital Berlin. However, they also kept a house in Wuppertal. This article is about the capital of Germany. ... Wuppertal university Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ...

Johannes Rau died on January 27, 2006 in Berlin. is the 27th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Germany
• Politics of Germany

Politics of Germany takes place in a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Federal Chancellor is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. ...

External links

Wikinews has related news:

Former German president Johannes Rau dies at 75

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Johannes Rau

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

v • d • e Presidents of the Federal Republic of Germany
Theodor Heuss · Heinrich Lübke · Gustav Heinemann · Walter Scheel · Karl Carstens · Richard von Weizsäcker · Roman Herzog · Johannes Rau · Horst Köhler

v • d • e Presidents of the Bundesrat (Federal Council)
Karl Arnold • Hans Ehard • Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf • Reinhold Maier • Georg August Zinn • Peter Altmeier • Kai-Uwe von Hassel • Kurt Sieveking • Willy Brandt • Wilhelm Kaisen • Franz-Josef Röder • Franz Meyers • Hans Ehard • Kurt Georg Kiesinger • Georg Diederichs • Georg August Zinn • Peter Altmeier • Helmut Lemke • Klaus Schütz • Herbert Weichmann • Franz-Josef Röder • Hans Koschnick • Heinz Kühn • Alfons Goppel • Hans Filbinger • Alfred Kubel • Albert Osswald • Bernhard Vogel • Gerhard Stoltenberg • Dietrich Stobbe • Hans-Ulrich Klose • Werner Zeyer • Hans Koschnick • Johannes Rau • Franz Josef Strauß • Lothar Späth • Ernst Albrecht • Holger Börner • Walter Wallmann • Bernhard Vogel • Björn Engholm • Walter Momper • Henning Voscherau • Alfred Gomolka • Berndt Seite • Oskar Lafontaine • Klaus Wedemeier • Johannes Rau • Edmund Stoiber • Erwin Teufel • Gerhard Schröder • Hans Eichel • Roland Koch • Kurt Biedenkopf • Kurt Beck • Klaus Wowereit • Wolfgang Böhmer • Dieter Althaus • Matthias Platzeck • Peter Harry Carstensen • Harald Ringstorff Image File history File links WikiNews-Logo. ... 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v • d • e Ministers-President of North Rhine-Westphalia
Rudolf Amelunxen · Karl Arnold · Fritz Steinhoff · Franz Meyers · Heinz Kühn · Johannes Rau · Wolfgang Clement · Peer Steinbrück · Jürgen Rüttgers

v • d • e Chairmen of the Social Democratic Party of Germany
SPD (1890-1933)	Paul Singer/Alwin Gerisch · August Bebel/Paul Singer · August Bebel/Hugo Haase · Hugo Haase/Friedrich Ebert · Friedrich Ebert · Friedrich Ebert/Philipp Scheidemann · Otto Wels/Herman Müller · Arthur Crispien/Otto Wels/Herman Müller · Arthur Crispien/Otto Wels · Arthur Crispien/Otto Wels/Hans Vogel
SPD-in-exile (SoPaDe) (1933-1945)	Otto Wels/Hans Vogel · Hans Vogel
SPD (since 1946)	Kurt Schumacher · Erich Ollenhauer · Willy Brandt · Hans-Jochen Vogel · Björn Engholm · Johannes Rau · Rudolf Scharping · Oskar Lafontaine · Gerhard Schröder · Franz Müntefering · Matthias Platzeck · Kurt Beck