Kurt Hans Biedenkopf was a German jurist, academic teacher and politician of the Christian-Democratic Union.
25 Facts About Kurt Biedenkopf
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Kurt Biedenkopf was 54th president of the Bundesrat from 2000, overseeing the body's move from Bonn to Berlin.
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Kurt Biedenkopf is regarded as the intellectual leader of the CDU when Helmut Kohl was chancellor.
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Kurt Biedenkopf worked on advisory boards of institutions including the Bertelsmann Stiftung, Deutsche Nationalstiftung, Dresden Frauenkirche, Independent Commission on Turkey and the Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen.
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Kurt Biedenkopf first studied political sciences from 1949 to 1950 at the Davidson College in North Carolina and at Georgetown University.
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Kurt Biedenkopf then studied economics and law in Germany at the University of Munich, achieving a law doctorate in 1958.
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Kurt Biedenkopf obtained a Master in Law in 1962 from Georgetown University, where he studied and researched again from 1958 to 1959 and 1961 to 1962.
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In 1963 Kurt Biedenkopf completed his habilitation at Goethe University Frankfurt.
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Kurt Biedenkopf became lecturer of the Ruhr University Bochum in 1964.
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Kurt Biedenkopf was lecturer and visiting professor at the Goethe University Frankfurt and Leipzig University.
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Kurt Biedenkopf entered his professional political career when he became secretary general of the CDU in 1973, under the leadership of chairman Helmut Kohl.
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Kurt Biedenkopf resigned from that office in 1977 after disagreements with Kohl and went on to become one of his fiercest rivals within the party.
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In 1979, it was revealed that Christel Broszey, Kurt Biedenkopf's secretary, disappeared and was presumed to have fled to East Germany.
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Kurt Biedenkopf's party won the subsequent elections in 1994 and 1999 with an absolute majority.
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Early in his tenure, Kurt Biedenkopf emerged as a kind of unofficial spokesman for the regions of East Germany.
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Kurt Biedenkopf enjoyed great popularity among a majority of the people of Saxony.
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Kurt Biedenkopf led a legal battle against the European Commission on subsidies for Volkswagen investments in Saxony.
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Ahead of the German presidential election in 1994, Kurt Biedenkopf was widely seen as a likely candidate, but the post went to Roman Herzog.
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In 2000, Kurt Biedenkopf held the rotating presidency of the Bundesrat of Germany.
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In January 2001, Kurt Biedenkopf dismissed State Minister of Finance Georg Milbradt because Milbradt had started a debate about Kurt Biedenkopf's succession.
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Kurt Biedenkopf died in Dresden on 12 August 2021 at the age of 91.
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Ahead of the Christian Democrats' leadership election in 2018, Kurt Biedenkopf publicly endorsed Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to succeed Angela Merkel as the party's chair.
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Kurt Biedenkopf later supported Armin Laschet's candidacy to succeed Kramp-Karrenbauer in the 2021 leadership election.
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In 1983, Kurt Biedenkopf became a member of the advisory board of the non-profit Bertelsmann Stiftung.
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Kurt Biedenkopf was active on the board of the Deutsche Nationalstiftung, active for the unification of Germany after the separation and within the European community, and was the foundation's honorary senator until his death.