 |
Horst Köhler
b. 22 Feb 1943, Heidenstein, General Government (now Skierbieszów, Poland) |
| Title: |
Bundespräsident (Federal President) |
| Term: |
1 Jul 2004 - 31 May 2010 |
| Chronology: |
23 May 2004,
elected, session of the Bundesversammlung (Federal Assembly), Reichstagsgebäude, Berlin [1] |
| |
1 Jul 2004,
took an oath of office as Federal President, joint session of the Bundestag and Bundesrat, Reichstagsgebäude, Berlin |
| |
23 May 2009,
elected, session of the Bundesversammlung (Federal Assembly), Reichstagsgebäude, Berlin [2] |
| |
31 May 2010, public announcement of the resignation with immediate effect, Langhans-Saal, Schloss Bellevue, Berlin |
| Biography: |
| Born into a family of the Bessarabian Germans who migrated to the General Government, a part of Poland occupied by German Reich, in 1942; family moved to Leipzig in 1944 and resided in the German Democratic Republic until 1953 when they fled to West Germany; completed a course of education in the Mörike-Gymnasium in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg (1963); after two years of military service, he entered the Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, graduating in 1969 with a diploma in economics; worked in the Institute for Applied Economic Research, Tübingen (1969-1976); earned a doctorate in 1977; was employed by the federal ministry of economy (1976-1980); joined the Christian Democratic Union (Christlich Demokratische Union, CDU) in 1981; headed various departments and served as state secretary of the federal finance ministry (1982-1993); was appointed deputy minister of finance (1990-1993); led negotiations on behalf of the German government on the agreement that became the Maastricht treaty on European Economic and Monetary Union; served as president of the Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband, an association of saving banks (1993-1998), and as president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (1998-2000); held the office of Managing Director and Chairman of the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (2000-2004); was elected Federal President by the 12th Bundesversammlung (Federal Assembly) in 2004 and re-elected by the 13th Bundesversammlung in 2009. |
| Elections: |
| Candidate (party) |
Vote (23 May 2004) |
| Horst Köhler (CDU) |
604 |
| Gesine Marianne Schwan, geb. Schneider (SPD) |
589 |
| abstentions |
9 |
| invalid |
2 |
| total votes cast |
1,204 |
| total votes/absolute majority: |
1,205/603 |
| Candidate (party) |
Vote (23 May 2009) |
| Horst Köhler (CDU) |
613 |
| Gesine Marianne Schwan, geb. Schneider (SPD) |
503 |
| Peter Sodann (Left Party) |
91 |
| Frank Rennicke (National Democratic Party) |
4 |
| abstentions |
10 |
| invalid |
2 |
| total votes cast |
1,223 |
| total votes/absolute majority: |
1,224/613 |
|
| Source of electoral results: Verhandlungen des Deutschen Bundestages, 12. Wahlperiode, Bd. 1, S. 1-4 (vor S. 1); 13. Bundesversammlung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Berlin, Samstag, den 23. Mai 2009 (H. Heenemann GmbH & Co., Buch- und Offsetdruckerei, 2009). |
| |
| [1] |
Verhandlungen des Deutschen Bundestages, 12. Wahlperiode, Bd. 1, S. 1-4 (vor S. 1). |
| [2] |
13. Bundesversammlung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Berlin, Samstag, den 23. Mai 2009 (H. Heenemann GmbH & Co., Buch- und Offsetdruckerei, 2009) |
