Wie Alt Ist Rita Süßmuth
Rita Süßmuth Rita Süssmuth (née Kickuth; German pronunciation: [ita zsmut]; born 17 February 1937) is a Christian Democratic Union politician from Germany (CDU). She was the tenth President of the German Bundestag.
She was Federal Minister for Youth, Family, and Health from 1985 to 1988 (youth, family, women, and health from 1986) and President of the German Bundestag from 1988 to 1998. Her term in the Bundestag was the third longest in its history, lasting over ten years. Only Eugen Gerstenmaier and Norbert Lammert held the office for a longer period of time.
In addition to her political work, Süssmuth served as President of the European Movement Germany (1994–1998) and as a member of the Bertelsmann Foundation’s Advisory Board and Board of Trustees (1997–2007).
Süssmuth was born in Wadersloh and spent her youth there. After graduating from Rheine’s high school (Emsland-Gymnasium) in 1956, she pursued a degree in Romance studies and history in Münster, Tübingen, and Paris, which she completed on July 20, 1961, with the first state test (Staatsexamen) for teaching. Postgraduate degrees in educational science, sociology, and psychology followed.
She then obtained her Ph.D. phil. from the University of Münster in 1964. Her dissertation was titled “Studies on the Anthropology of the Child in Contemporary French Literature” (“Studien zur Anthropologie des Kindes in Contemporary French Literature”).
In 1964, Süssmuth received his Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Münster. She was a member of the education faculty at the University of Dortmund, Ruhr University, and their predecessor institutions from 1966 to 1982.
Career
Early in one’s career
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Süssmuth worked as a scientific assistant at the universities of Stuttgart and Osnabrück from 1963 to 1966, and then as a lecturer at the Pädagogische Hochschule Ruhr beginning in 1966. She was a professor of International Comparative Education at Ruhr-Universität Bochum from 1969 to 1982.
Süssmuth was named professor of Educational Science at the Pädagogische Hochschule Ruhr in 1971. She accepted a position at the University of Dortmund in 1973. She also joined the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs’ scientific advisory council in 1971.
Süssmuth was the director of the Institut Frau und Gesellschaft in Hanover from 1982 until 1985. She delivered block seminars at the University of Göttingen during her time as an active politician.
A career in politics
Süssmuth served as Federal Minister of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth under Chancellor Helmut Kohl from 1985 to 1988. She joined forces with Lothar Späth, Heiner Geißler, Kurt Biedenkopf, and others in an unsuccessful attempt to depose Kohl as CDU chairman in late 1989.
From 1987 to 2002, Süssmuth served in the German Bundestag. In the federal elections of 1987, 1990, and 1994, she gained a direct mandate in the Göttingen constituency, and in 1998, she was elected to parliament via the CDU Lower Saxony state list.
Süssmuth became the 10th President of the Bundestag after Philipp Jenninger resigned in 1988. She retained the position until 1998, when the SPD became the most powerful party in parliament.
During her tenure, Germany reunified.
Süssmuth called for a united proclamation by both German states recognising Poland’s western border in December 1989.
Süssmuth was head of the Frauen Union (the CDU’s female members’ group) from 1986 to 2001, and so wielded considerable power inside her party.
Positions in politics
Süssmuth is a supporter of the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, a group that works for democratic reform of the UN.
Süssmuth officially endorsed Armin Laschet to succeed Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as chair of the Christian Democrats ahead of the party’s leadership election in 2021.
After politics, there is life.
Süssmuth performs at Neue Stimmen in 1997.
Süssmuth was named as the head of a high-profile bipartisan panel to revamp Germany’s immigration rules by Federal Minister of the Interior Otto Schily in September 2000.
The goal of the group was to create an overall proposal for new immigration legislation. The committee’s findings were published in July 2001 as a 323-page study titled “Crafting Immigration – Promoting Integration” (“Zuwanderung gestalten – Integration fördern”).
Süssmuth joined the Limbach Kommission, which acts as a mediator in cases involving Nazi plundered art, in 2002.
Süssmuth was named President of the state-approved Berlin OTA Private University (OTA Hochschule), now SRH Hochschule Berlin, on September 6, 2005. In January 2010, she was succeeded by Peter Eichhorn.
Süssmuth has been involved in a variety of charity and entrepreneurial initiatives since leaving politics, including the following.