German president marks 150th birthday of late chancellor Adenauer

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday paid tribute to the achievements of Konrad Adenauer, the first chancellor of post-war Germany who would have turned 150 today.

Steinmeier, who was celebrating his own 70th birthday on the same date, credited the late chancellor with reintegrating Germany in the world community following the horrors of World War II.

“He pursued reconciliation with France, reparations with Israel and the establishment of the Bundeswehr despite considerable resistance,” Steinmeier was quoted as saying by a spokeswoman on X.

Germany’s armed forces, known as the Bundeswehr, were founded in 1955, some 10 years after the Nazis were defeated by allies forces in the war that left millions dead across Europe, including some 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust.

Adenauer served as chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963, becoming the first head of government of what was then West Germany.

Born January 5, 1876 in Cologne, he remains one of the country’s most revered political figures to this day.

Adenauer died on April 19, 1967.