Konrad Adenauer
Part of a series on Christian democracy Organizations List of Christian Democratic parties Centrist Democrat International Christian Democrat Organization of America European People's Party European Christian Political Movement European Democratic Party Ideas Social conservatism Social market economy Communitarianism Human dignity Solidarity (in Catholicism) Subsidiarity (in Catholicism) Sphere sovereignty Stewardship Distributism Christian corporatism Catholic social teaching Neo-Calvinism Neo-Thomism Documents Rerum novarum Kuyper's Stone Lectures on Calvinism Graves de communi re Quadragesimo anno Laborem exercens Sollicitudo rei socialis Centesimus annus People Thomas Aquinas John Calvin Pope Leo XIII Abraham Kuyper Jacques Maritain Konrad Adenauer Alcide De Gasperi Luigi Sturzo Robert Schuman Pope Pius XI Eduardo Frei Pope John Paul II Helmut Kohl Giulio Andreotti Eamon de Valera Politics portal v t e Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (German pronunciation: [ˈkɔnʁaːt ˈhɛɐman ˈjoːzɛf ˈaːdənaʊɐ]; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman. As the first post-war Chancellor of Germany (West Germany) from 1949 to 1963, he led his country from the ruins of World War II to a productive and prosperous nation that forged close relations with old enemy France, the United Kingdom and the United States. During his years in power Germany achieved democracy, stability, international respect and economic prosperity ("Wirtschaftswunder", German for "economic miracle"). He was the first leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a Christian Democratic party that under his leadership became, and has since usually been one of the most powerful parties in the country. Adenauer, dubbed "Der Alte" ("the old one"), was one of the oldest democratically elected leaders in world history[citation needed], belied his age by his intense work habits and his uncanny political instinct. He displayed a strong dedication to a broad vision of market-based liberal democracy and anti-communism. A shrewd politician, Adenauer was deeply committed to a Western-oriented foreign policy and restoring the position of West Germany on the world stage. He worked to restore the West German economy from the destruction of World War II to a central position in Europe, presiding over the German Economic Miracle. He founded the Bundeswehr in 1955 and came to terms with France, which made possible the economic unification of Western Europe. Adenauer opposed rival East Germany and made his nation a member of NATO and a firm ally of the United States. A devout Roman Catholic, he was a leading Centre Party politician in the Weimar Republic, serving as Mayor of Cologne (1917–1933) and as president of the Prussian State Council (1922–1933). The 1968–1969 academic year at the College of Europe was named in his honour.