On the death of Kurt Biedenkopf: The “doer” from Saxony

Kurt Biedenkopf was one of the most important symbolic figures for the growing together of East and West. He was called “King Kurt” by many Saxons. He died at the age of 91. An obituary for a brilliant thought leader.

For more than a decade, the “little, big man” resided on the Elbe under the golden crown of the State Chancellery. He was celebrated by the Saxons as “King Kurt”. Like a monarch, he accepted this homage benevolently and with a smile on his face.

The native of Ludwigshafen, who grew up in Schkopau, came to Saxony in 1990, initially as a visiting professor at what was then Karl Marx University in Leipzig. He later ran for the office of Prime Minister in the resurrected Free State.

“Lothar Späth called and said we are sitting here in Chemnitz, we are giving advice. We have discussed everything possible. We want you to run,” recalled Biedenkopf when asked about the candidacy. Späth woke him up in the middle of the night and gave him until seven o’clock to make a decision. But after half an hour both agreed. “You can’t refuse that,” said Biedenkopf.

Biedenkopf was a stroke of luck for Saxony

The business law graduate turned Saxony into a small economic wonderland. His “lighthouse policy” made spectacular large-scale settlements possible, such as the Quelle mail order company in Leipzig and the chip manufacturers AMD and Infineon in Dresden.

They cemented his reputation for being a “doer”. Biedenkopf was a stroke of luck for Saxony, says Matthias Rößler, Biedenkopf’s former minister of education. “The peaceful revolution of 1989 opened the window of history to Kurt Biedenkopf in order to translate his ideas and visions into practical politics,” said Rößler. “And luckily here with us.”

Biedenkopf was one of the few who openly told people how stony the road to rebuilding would be. But he also encouraged them to fight – and that’s what the Saxons appreciate about him.

Shrewd analyst and brilliant thought leader

Biedenkopf never failed to praise the Saxons in his hymns of praise for the achievements of the Free State. “What they have proven is the ability to know the limits of all the demands you place on life and what you want from others.”

The astute analyst and brilliant thought leader showed foresight not only in day-to-day politics. Biedenkopf repeatedly warned against living at the expense of children and grandchildren. He warned of the gigantic mountain of public debt, the empty social coffers and – in view of a rapidly aging society – of the ailing pension system.

Biedenkopf pointed out all these problems and questions that are constantly being dealt with today 20 years ago, says Stanislaw Tillich, who was Federal and European Minister in Biedenkopf’s cabinet. “You recognized it much earlier and called for countermeasures to get these questions under control.”

“I’m not a pensioner, I work”

Biedenkopf was smarter and better than most of the others – and he made so many people feel that too. After several affairs and increasing criticism of his management style, Biedenkopf resigned from the office of prime minister in 2002. After leaving politics, Biedenkopf published several books and established himself as a lawyer.

Even at the age of over 80, he impressed on lecture tours, on talk shows, as a guest speaker or author with his lively intellectuality and remarkable intellectual freshness. When asked about his retirement, he replied only briefly: “I’m not a pensioner, I work.”

Reunification symbolic figure

His average working day was still eight to ten hours. Again and again Biedenkopf interfered politically, be it in the election of the Federal President or the energy transition of Chancellor Angela Merkel, which he criticized as a “political adventure”.

Kurt Biedenkopf wrote political history. He is one of the most important symbolic figures for the growing together of East and West.