Lord Mayor of the City of Cologne and President of the Prussian State Council until dismissed by the National Socialists in 1933.

From 1933 to 1945, he led a retired life in Rhöndorf near Bonn. He was arrested twice during that period.

In 1946, he was elected Chairman of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) in the British Zone of Occupation; in 1948/49, he officiated as President of the Parliamentary Council during the formulation of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany; in 1950, he was elected Federal Chairman of the CDU.

During his term of office as Federal Chancellor, the Federal Republic developed into a stable democracy and into one of the leading industrial and social states. The achievement of national sovereignty, close ties with the free West, reconciliation with France, and the consolidation of social market economy all are landmarks that are inseparably linked to the name of Konrad Adenauer.

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