Adenauer biography

Konrad Adenauer, 1962  ©Adenauer was West Germany's first chancellor and a key figure in rebuilding the country after World War Two.

Konrad Adenauer was born in Cologne on 5 January 1876, the son of a lawyer.

Adenauer biography

He studied at the universities of Freiburg, Munich and Bonn before himself becoming a lawyer. He became a member of Cologne City Council, and in 1917 lord mayor of the city. He was elected to the Provincial Diet and, in 1920, became president of the Prussian State Council, making him one of the most influential politicians in Germany.

Adenauer was replaced as mayor of Cologne after the Nazis came to power, and was briefly imprisoned in 1934.

He was arrested by the Gestapo in September 1944 and accused of involvement in the failed July bomb plot against Hitler.

The United States, which liberated Cologne, appointed Adenauer mayor again, but he was dismissed soon afterwards by the British military government.

Adenauer set about forming a new