Konrad Adenauer

Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (German: Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer, German pronunciation: [ˈkɔnʁaːt ˈhɛɐman ˈjoːzɛf ˈaːdənaʊɐ], January 5, 1876 – April 19, 1967), born in Cologne, German Empire, died in Rhein-Rhöndorf, West Germany. Before World War II, he served as the mayor of Cologne as a member of the Catholic Center Party for more than ten years. After the war, he was elected as the first West German Prime Minister, leader of the German Christian Democratic Union, and a famous politician and jurist. Edenault was committed to a market-based social system, restored West Germany's economy from the ruins of World War II to its central position in Europe, and worked with his Economy Minister Ludwig Erhard to create the German economic miracle. Since 1955, Edenauer had been the driving force behind the reconstruction of West Germany's national military power (the Bundeswehr); he opposed East Germany and succeeded in getting West Germany to join NATO. Edenault was already a major political figure in the Weimar Republic before World War II, serving as mayor of Cologne (1917-1933) and chairman of the Prussian State Council (1922-1933).