Biography

• Born on 5th January 1876 in Cologne.
• Studied law and economics in Freiburg, Munich and Bonn.
• In 1906 he became Deputy Mayor of the City of Cologne and member of the Centre Party.
• He served as Mayor of Cologne from 1917 to 1933, when he was dismissed by the National Socialists; later he was imprisoned on several occasions by the Gestapo.
• In 1946 he became Chairman of the CDU in the British zone and was their Federal Chairman from 1949.
• President of the Parliamentary Council, which compiled the draft of the constitution for the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1948/1949. From 1949 he was a member of the Bundestag of West Germany and became the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany until his resignation in 1963. He played a decisive role in the west-oriented integration of the Federal Republic of Germany and campaigned during his term in office for European unity and German–French understanding and reconciliation (signing of the German–French Friendship Treaty in 1963).
• Died on 19th April 1967.