Online Encyclopedia
Richard von Weizsäcker
|
||||||||||||||||||
Freiherr Dr. Richard von Weizsäcker (born April 15 1920) is a German politician (CDU). He was president of Germany from 1984 to 1994.
He was born in Stuttgart as son of the diplomat Freiherr Ernst von Weizsäcker and brother of physicist and philosopher Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker , and lived several years in Switzerland and Denmark due to his father's diplomatic duties. When he was 17 years old he moved to Britain and studied philosophy and history in Oxford, later he studied in Grenoble in France. After the outbreak of the war, he served in the Army, finally as a captain of the Reserve. He was wounded in East Prussia in 1945 and was transported home to Stuttgart. Then he continued his study of history in Göttingen, and eventually studied law. He took his first juristic state exam in 1950, and the second in 1953, and was 1955 promoted dr. juris. He married 1953 Marianne von Kretschmann, they have four children.
Weizsäcker joined the CDU in 1954 and became member of the German Parliament in 1969. In 1981 he was elected mayor of Berlin.
He was elected president of Germany by the Bundesversammlung in 1984, succeding Karl Carstens. Weizsäcker was famous for his speeches. Due to his high esteem in all political parties, he was so far the only candidate to stand for elections for the office of federal president uncontested, and he was consequently elected for a second term of office in 1989. Although now being an elder statesman, von Weizsäcker is still involved in politics and charitable affairs. He was the chair of a commission installed by the current socialdemocratic-green government for reforming the Bundeswehr.
|
Preceded by: Karl Carstens |
President of Germany 1984-1994 |
Succeeded by: Roman Herzog |