Kurt Biedenkopf

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (January 2022) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the German article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Kurt Biedenkopf]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|de|Kurt Biedenkopf}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Kurt Biedenkopf
Biedenkopf in 1973
Minister-President of Saxony
In office 8 November 1990 – 18 April 2002
Deputy	Rudolf Krause Heinz Eggert Hans Geisler
Preceded by	Rudolf Krause (as Landesbevollmächtigter)
Succeeded by	Georg Milbradt
President of the Bundesrat
In office 1 November 1999 – 31 October 2000
First Vice President	Roland Koch
Preceded by	Roland Koch
Succeeded by	Kurt Beck
General Secretary of the Christian Democratic Union
In office 12 June 1973 – 7 March 1977
Leader	Helmut Kohl
Preceded by	Konrad Kraske
Succeeded by	Heiner Geißler
Leader of the Christian Democratic Union in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia
In office 29 May 1980 – 24 May 1983
Preceded by	Heinrich Köppler
Succeeded by	Bernhard Worms
Parliamentary constituencies Member of the Landtag of Saxony In office 27 October 1990 – 19 October 2004 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by multi-member district Constituency Christian Democratic Union List Member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia In office 29 May 1980 – 29 June 1988 Preceded by multi-member district Succeeded by Hans-Joachim Menge Constituency Christian Democratic Union List Member of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia In office 18 February 1987 – 9 November 1990 Preceded by multi-member district Succeeded by Wolfgang Lohmann Constituency Christian Democratic Union List In office 14 December 1976 – 4 November 1980 Preceded by multi-member district Succeeded by multi-member district Constituency Christian Democratic Union List
Personal details
Born	(1930-01-28)28 January 1930 Ludwigshafen, Free State of Bavaria, Weimar Republic (now Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany)
Died	12 August 2021(2021-08-12) (aged 91) Dresden, Germany
Education	University of Munich Goethe University Frankfurt

Kurt Hans Biedenkopf (German pronunciation: [kʊʁt ˈbiːdn̩ˌkɔp͡f] ^ⓘ; 28 January 1930 – 12 August 2021^[1]) was a German jurist, academic teacher and politician of the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) party. He was rector of the Ruhr University Bochum.

Biedenkopf made a political career first in North Rhine-Westphalia, where he was chairman of the party. After the re-unification of Germany, he served as the first Minister President of the Free State of Saxony from 1990 until 2002. He was 54th president of the Bundesrat from 2000, overseeing the body's move from Bonn to Berlin. Biedenkopf is regarded as the intellectual leader of the CDU when Helmut Kohl was chancellor.^[2]

Biedenkopf worked on advisory boards of institutions including the Bertelsmann Stiftung, Deutsche Nationalstiftung, Dresden Frauenkirche, Independent Commission on Turkey and the Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen. Among his numerous recognitions were international honorific doctorates.