Former CDU politician and Bundestag president Rita Süssmuth has died at the age of 88. She passed away on Sunday, as announced by Bundestag President Julia Klöckner, apparently due to complications from breast cancer she publicly disclosed in June 2024. Politicians and public figures praise her as a champion for democracy, women's rights, and an open society.
Rita Süssmuth, born on February 17, 1937, in Wuppertal as the daughter of a teacher, studied Romance languages and history, followed by postgraduate studies in education sciences, sociology, and psychology. At age 34, she became a professor of education sciences, first in Bochum and later at the University of Dortmund in the 1970s. She joined the CDU in 1981 and was appointed Federal Minister for Youth, Family, and Health by Chancellor Helmut Kohl in 1985, becoming Germany's first Federal Minister for Women in 1986.
From 1987 to 2002, she served as a Bundestag member, winning direct mandates in Göttingen in 1987, 1990, and 1994, and entering via the Lower Saxony state list in 1998. As the second woman after Annemarie Renger (SPD), she was Bundestag President from 1988 to 1998 and the first in reunified Germany. She supported the wrapping of the Reichstag by Christo and Jeanne-Claude in 1995 and advocated for women's emancipation, reform of Paragraph 218, and AIDS prevention with the principle 'Prevention instead of exclusion'.
In migration policy, she was the first prominent CDU politician in the mid-1990s to call Germany an immigration country. She chaired the Immigration Commission from 2000 to 2001, the Expert Council on Immigration and Integration from 2002 to 2004, and served on the UN's Global Commission on International Migration from 2003 to 2005.
After active politics, she held positions such as in the Limbach Commission (since 2003), president of the German Poland Institute (since 2005, later honorary), and the German Adult Education Association (27 years, honorary since 2015). In a March 2025 RND interview, she advocated for parity in cabinet appointments.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called her 'a great woman and a passionate fighter for democracy'. Julia Klöckner: 'one of the most significant female politicians of the Federal Republic'. Friedrich Merz: 'a great politician and a guiding star for our democratic community'. Renate Künast (Greens): 'The wonderful, determined, and persistent Rita Süssmuth has died. [...] Thank you for everything.' Her death prompts widespread mourning, as she set standards for tolerance and openness.
