Johannes Rau

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Johannes Rau

| image = Johannes rau 2004-05-16 berlin (1).jpg

| caption = Rau in 2004

| order =

| office = President of Germany

| term_start = 1 July 1999

| term_end = 30 June 2004

| chancellor = Gerhard Schröder

| predecessor = Roman Herzog

| successor = Horst Köhler

| order1 = Minister-President of
North Rhine-Westphalia

| term_start1 = 20 September 1978

| term_end1 = 9 June 1998

| deputy1 = {{unbulleted list|Horst-Ludwig Riemer |Burkhard Hirsch|Diether Posser|Herbter Schnoor|Michael Vesper}}

| predecessor1 = Heinz Kühn

| successor1 = Wolfgang Clement

|office2 = President of the Bundesrat

|1blankname2 = {{nowrap|First Vice President}}

|1namedata2 = Klaus Wedemeier

| term_start2 = 1 November 1994

| term_end2 = 31 October 1995

| predecessor2 = Klaus Wedemeier

| successor2 = Edmund Stoiber

|1blankname3 = {{nowrap|First Vice President}}

|1namedata3 = Hans Koschnick

| term_start3 = 1 November 1982

| term_end3 = 31 October 1983

| predecessor3 = Hans Koschnick

| successor3 = Franz Josef Strauss

{{Collapsed infobox section begin |last=yes |North Rhine-Westphalia Cabinet

|titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes

| office4 = Minister for Federal Affairs

| 1blankname4 = {{nowrap|Minister-President}}

| 1namedata4 = himself

| term_start4 = 4 June 1980

| term_end4 = 18 August 1980

| predecessor4 = Christoph Zöpel

| successor4 = Dieter Haak

| office5 = Minister of Science and Research

| 1blankname5 = {{nowrap|Minister-President}}

| 1namedata5 = {{unbulleted list|Heinz Kühn}}

| term_start5 = 28 July 1970

| term_end5 = 20 September 1978

| predecessor5 = Office established

| successor5 = Reimut Jochimsen{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}}

| office6 = Lord Mayor of Wuppertal

| term_start6 = 1969

| term_end6 = 1970

| predecessor6 = Hermann Herberts

| successor6 = Gottfried Gurland

{{Collapsed infobox section begin |last=yes |Parliamentary constituencies

|titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes

| office7 = Member of the
Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia
for Wuppertal III

| term_start7 = 21 July 1958

| term_end7 = 30 June 1999

| predecessor7 = Constituency established

| successor7 = Marianne Dohmen{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}}

| birth_date = {{birth date|1931|1|16|df=y}}

| birth_place = Wuppertal, Rhine Province, Free State of Prussia, Weimar Republic {{small|(now North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany)}}

| death_date = {{death date and age|2006|1|27|1931|1|16|df=y}}

| death_place = Berlin, Germany

| party = Social Democratic Party {{small|(1957–2006)}}

| otherparty = All-German People's Party {{small|(1950–1957)}}

| spouse = {{marriage|Christina Rau|1982}}

| children = 3

| occupation = {{hlist|Politician|Publisher}}

| signature = Johannes Rau Signature 2.svg

}}

Johannes Rau ({{IPA|de|joˈhanəs ˈʁaʊ|lang|De-Johannes Rau.ogg}}; 16 January 1931{{spaced ndash}}27 January 2006) was a German politician who served as President of Germany from 1999 to 2004. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he previously served as the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1978 to 1998. In the latter role, he also served as President of the Bundesrat in 1982/83 and in 1994/95.

Education and work

Rau was born in the Barmen part of Wuppertal, Rhine Province, as the third of five children. His family was strongly Protestant. As a schoolboy, Rau was active in the Confessing Church, which resisted Nazism.

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

Political career

Rau was a member of the All-German People's Party (GVP), which was founded by Gustav Heinemann. The party was known for proposing German reunification from 1952 until it was disbanded in 1957.

In 1958, the pacifist{{Cite web|url=https://biography.yourdictionary.com/johannes-rau|title=Johannes Rau|website=biography.yourdictionary.com}} Rau and his political mentor, Gustav Heinemann, joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), where he was active in the Wuppertal chapter. He served as deputy chairman of the SPD party of Wuppertal and was elected later on to the City Council (1964–1978), where he served as chairman of the SPD Group (1964–1967) and later as Mayor (1969–1970).

In July 1958, Rau was elected for the first time as member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1967, he became chairman of the SPD fraction in the Landtag, and from 1970 to 1975, he was Minister of Science and Education in the second 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 British Open University).

In 1977, Rau became Chairman of the SPD North Rhine-Westphalia and, in 1978, Minister President of the state, which 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 North Rhine-Westphalia. Rau twice served as President of the Bundesrat in 1982/83 and 1994/95.

In 1987, Rau was his party's candidate to become chancellor of Germany for the SPD, but he lost the 1987 West German federal election against Helmut Kohl’s Christian Democrats (CDU). In 1994, Rau was a candidate to become President of Germany but lost the 1994 German presidential election to Roman Herzog.

In June 1998, Rau stepped down from his positions as SPD chairman and Minister President, and in the 1999 German presidential election on 23 May 1999, he was elected President of Germany by the Federal Assembly of Germany to succeed Roman Herzog (CDU).

On 1 July 2004, he was succeeded by Horst Köhler. In common with all other Federal presidents Rau was honored by a Großer Zapfenstreich.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Großer Zapfenstreich für Johannes Rau |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/abschiedszeremonie-grosser-zapfenstreich-fuer-johannes-rau-1.309011 |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=Süddeutsche.de |date= 10 May 2010|language=de}}{{Cite news |title=Bundespräsident: Großer Zapfenstreich für Johannes Rau |language=de |work=FAZ.NET |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/bundespraesident-grosser-zapfenstreich-fuer-johannes-rau-1158406.html |access-date=2022-08-10 |issn=0174-4909}} At his request the hymn "Jesus bleibet meine Freude" (literally "that Jesus remain my Joy", but commonly Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring) was included.{{Cite web |date=2004-06-30 |title=Heute letzter Arbeitstag für Johannes Rau: Gestern "Großer Zapfenstreich" vorm Schloss Bellevue |url=https://www.bz-berlin.de/archiv-artikel/heute-letzter-arbeitstag-fuer-johannes-rau-gestern-groer-zapfenstreich-vorm-schloss-bellevue |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=www.bz-berlin.de |language=de-DE}}

In February 2000, Rau became the first German head of state to address the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in German.www.bundespraesident.de: [https://www.bundespraesident.de/SharedDocs/Reden/DE/Johannes-Rau/Reden/2000/02/20000216_Rede.html full text of the speech]

The 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 lifelong commitment to bringing reconciliation between Germany and its past.{{citation needed|date = September 2021}}

Death

File:Rau grab.jpg

Rau had a long history of heart disease and died 11 days after his 75th birthday on 27 January 2006. The funeral took place on 7 February following a funeral act of state on the Dorotheenstadt cemetery in Berlin in the closest of family and friends.

Motto and maxim

The maxim of Rau was "to reconcile, not divide".{{Cite web |date=27 January 2006 |title=Germany Mourns Outstanding Former President Johannes Rau |url=https://apd.media/news/archiv/4348.html |access-date=2023-12-20 |website=apd.media}}

As his personal motto, Rau adopted the Confessing Church dictum "teneo, quia teneor" (I hold because I am held).

In his acceptance speech after his election, Rau claimed "I never want to be a nationalist but rather a patriot. A patriot is someone who loves his fatherland. A nationalist is someone who condemns the fatherland of others."{{Cite book |last=Summers |first=James |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/870143850 |title=Peoples and international law |date=2013 |isbn=978-90-04-23296-9 |location=Leiden |pages=14 |oclc=870143850}} The quote can be attributed to the French writer Romain Gary.{{Cite web |date=2022-06-14 |title=The patriotic prejudice of George Orwell |url=https://www.abc.net.au/religion/the-patriotic-prejudice-of-george-orwell/13929230 |access-date=2024-06-20 |website=ABC Religion & Ethics |language=en-AU}}

Prizes and medals

Rau was awarded 15 honorary doctorates.

In 2001, he received the Leo Baeck Medal for his humanitarian work promoting tolerance and social justice.

Private life

Rau was known as a practising Christian (sometimes known as {{lang|de|Bruder Johannes}}, "Brother John", in ridicule of his intense Christian position. He held lay positions in and was a member of the Synod of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, a member church of the Protestant Church in Germany.

On 9 August 1982, Rau married the political scientist Christina Delius (born 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.

On 18 August 2004, Rau had to undergo serious heart surgery, in which an artificial heart valve was inserted. Only two months later (19 October 2004), a hematoma in the abdominal cavity was surgically removed.

After leaving office, Rau lived with his family in the federal capital, Berlin. However, they also kept a house in Wuppertal.

Honours

{{flag|Germany}}: Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

= Foreign honours =

{{flag|Austria}}: Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (2004){{cite web | url = http://www.parlament.gv.at/PAKT/VHG/XXIV/AB/AB_10542/imfname_251156.pdf | title = Reply to a parliamentary question about the Decoration of Honour | language = de | page=1654 | access-date = 1 November 2012 }}
{{flag|Czech Republic}}: Collar of the Order of the White Lion (2000)
{{flag|Denmark}}: Knight of the Order of the Elephant (2002)
{{flag|Estonia}}: Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana
{{flag|Italy}}: Knight Grand Cross with Collar Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
{{flag|Iceland}}: Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Falcon (2003)Icelandic Presidency Website (Icelandic), Order of the Falcon, [http://falkadb.forseti.is/orduskra/fal03.php?term=Rau%2C+&sub=Leita Johannes & Christina Rau] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101193458/http://falkadb.forseti.is/orduskra/fal03.php?term=Rau%2C+&sub=Leita |date=1 November 2013 }}, 1 July 2003, Grand Cross with Collar & Grand Cross respectively
{{flag|Latvia}}: 2nd Class, then, 1st Class with Chain of the Order of the Three Stars
{{flag|Malta}}: Honorary Companions of Honour with Collar of the National Order of Merit
{{flag|Norway}}: Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav
{{flag|Poland}}: Knight of the Order of the White Eagle
{{flag|Slovakia}}: Grand Cross (or 1st Class) of the Order of the White Double Cross (2001)Slovak republic website, [http://www.slovak-republic.org/symbols/honours/ State honours]: 1st Class in 2001 (click on "Holders of the Order of the 1st Class White Double Cross" to see the holders' table)
{{flag|Spain}}: Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (2002){{Cite web|url=http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2002/11/09/pdfs/A39707-39708.pdf|title=Boletín Oficial del Estado}}
{{flag|Sweden}}: Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim
{{flag|Turkey}}: First Class of the Order of the State of Republic of Turkey (2000){{cite web|url=http://www.tccb.gov.tr/common/ftp/foto/06.04.2000-19.30.jpg|title= The ceremony conferred the Order of the State – History|publisher=Presidency of Republic of Turkey|date=6 April 2000|access-date=31 July 2013}}
{{flag|Vatican}}: Collar of the Order of Pope Pius IX
Olympic Order (2004)
Leo Baeck Medal (1996){{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41443377|jstor = 41443377|title = Speech Given on Receiving the Leo Baeck Prize of the "Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland"|last1 = Rau|first1 = Johannes|journal = European Judaism: A Journal for the New Europe|year = 1996|volume = 29|issue = 2|pages = 78–84}}

References

External links

{{in lang|en}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927001048/http://eng.bundespraesident.de/-,12101/Johannes-Rau.htm www.bundespraesident.de: Johannes Rau]—Official biography
{{in lang|de}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20090311080630/http://www.trauer-beileid.de/kondolenzbuch/155-Alt-Bundespraesident-Johannes-Rau.htm online book of condolence for Johannes Rau]

{{s-ttl|title=Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia|years=1978–1998}}

{{s-ttl|title=President of the German Bundesrat|years=1982–1983}}

{{s-ttl|title=President of the German Bundesrat|years=1994–1995}}