Death of Johannes Rau - Germany / Federal Republic of Germany 2006 - 55 Euro Cent

On January 27, 2006 Federal President died a. D. Johannes Rau at the age of 75 in Berlin. Rau is one of the defining politicians of the Federal Republic of Germany. He was born on 16 January 1931 in Wuppertal. From 1949 to 1951, he completed an apprenticeship in Wuppertal as a publisher's book dealer and attended the Buchhändlerschule in Cologne. At the same time he was a journalist and began his political engagement. In 1957, Johannes Rau joined the SPD and one year later became a member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Landtag. From 1969 he served as Lord Mayor at the head of the city of Wuppertal, until he joined in 1970 as Minister of Science and Research in the Government of North Rhine -Westphalia. From 1978 to 1998 he was Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia. On May 23, 1999, Johannes Rau was elected the eighth Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany. Among other things, he won great international prestige through his speeches during his 76 trips abroad as head of state. He campaigned for the peaceful reconciliation of political interests and above all for the reconciliation between Germany and Israel. In 2004, Johannes Rau was dismissed from the office of Federal President. He had earned the reputation of a credible politician who cared about people's concerns.