Mourning for CDU politician Biedenkopf: How “King Kurt” used his second chance


Status: 08/13/2021 4:13 p.m.

He was called “King Kurt” in Saxony: As Prime Minister Kurt Biedenkopf, who died at the age of 91, had a lasting impact on the Free State.

Kurt Biedenkopf ruled the Free State of Saxony for eleven years. Although he came from the west, he quickly won the hearts of the Saxons. For them, Biedenkopf was simply “King Kurt”. He was a sought-after conversationalist at an early age and made a career for himself: at 37 as the youngest university rector, at 41 as an employee of the Henkel detergent group.

In the 1970s he became CDU general secretary. His foster father: Helmut Kohl. Biedenkopf quickly acquired the reputation of a brilliant donor of ideas who reformed the CDU. Kohl soon saw Biedenkopf as a rival and withdrew his favor in the years that followed. After losing elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, Biedenkopf withdrew from politics in 1988 – for the time being.

Former Saxon Prime Minister Biedenkopf died at the age of 91

Matthias Koch, MDR, Tagesschau 2 p.m., August 13, 2021

From the university to the state chancellery

But the fall of the wall gave him a second chance: as the first West German visiting professor, he held his inaugural lecture at Leipzig University in 1989. A year later, the comeback on the political stage follows – in Saxony. As the top candidate, he gave the CDU an absolute majority and was elected Prime Minister on October 27, 1990.

He will lead the Free State of Saxony from its catastrophic economic situation to the top of the new federal states within eight years. Thanks to his contacts and a clever settlement policy, he brings major corporations from the chip and auto industry to Saxony. After the turn of the millennium, the image of the splendid father of the country dims. Accusations against Biedenkopf are loud: He is said to have supported business friends with large construction projects and mixed business and private things in other cases.

Milbradt and saying goodbye to politics

Politically, there is a generation change that is painful for him: Against his resistance, Georg Milbradt becomes the new Prime Minister, whom he had previously dismissed as Minister of Finance. Biedenkopf accuses his CDU of intrigues and is bitter. In June 2004 he gave his farewell speech in the Saxon state parliament and left the political stage as a simple member of parliament.

His advice as a scientist is still in demand. He founds his own university in Dresden, has a research professorship and is a welcome guest at many events. In April 2021, Kurt Biedenkopf – at the age of 91 – was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Leipzig for his services to the East German university landscape.

Kurt Biedenkopf – here with his wife Ingrid – at his last major public appearance in April 2021.

Image: dpa

Concern about the strengthening of the AfD

In private, Biedenkopf and his wife Ingrid remain connected to their adopted home Saxony. The increase in the AfD there worried him, and in retrospect there is also a bit of self-criticism: “I don’t know that the political parties have taken the trouble to analyze themselves, what have we actually done wrong.”

But in the end Kurt Biedenkopf, whose experience and knowledge had been in demand throughout his life, no longer wanted to give political advice.

Former Saxon Prime Minister Biedenkopf has died

Uli Hauck, ARD Berlin, August 13, 2021 9:19 a.m.



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