Christian Wulff was President of the Federal Republic of Germany from 2010 to 2012. During this period, he formed a rather controversial opinion about himself. There are far more critics of him than those who speak positively about his policies.
Christian Wulff: biography
The birthplace of this future famous German politician is the city of Osnabrück in Lower Saxony. Date of birth - 1959-19-06
Christian's father left him at the age of four. His mother Dagmara remarried, but after ten years the new husband also left.
The mother developed multiple sclerosis at that time, so the son had to devote a lot of time to caring for her. In addition, he also had a younger sister in his care.
After studying at the University of Osnabrück in 1986, Christian Wilhelm W alter Wulff managed to pass the first qualifying exam in law the following year.
Then he got a job at the Oldenburg High Regional Court, where he practiced for three years. At the end, he passed the second state exam and went to a private law firm.
Political participation
During his school years, Christian showed a penchant for political activity. He actively participated in the Student Union, and then - in the "Young Union" youth organization of the CDU.
In 1978-1980, he was already a member of the federal executive body of the CDU. From 1979 to 1983 was a member of the federal executive body of the Youth Union.
Since 1984, Christian Wulff has served as a lawyer for the state executive body of the CDU in Lower Saxony.
From 1989-1994 he was deputy and chairman of the CDU group in the council of Osnabrück.
Participation in elected bodies
Christian Wulff first ran for parliament in Lower Saxony in 1994
In 1994-2001, he headed the CDU parliamentary group. From 1994 to 2008 was chairman of the Lower Saxon branch of the CDU.
In 1994, he also ran for state prime minister, but he was beaten in the election by the representative of the SPD, the future Chancellor of Germany, Gerhard Schroeder.
1995 marked a significant year for Woolf in that the Davos International Economic Forum included him in the top 100 political leaders who were destined for a great future "tomorrow".
Christian Wulff at that time quite sharply criticized the head of the CDU. This position was held by Helmut Kohl.
In 1998, Wulf again failed to beat Schroeder in the elections, but he was elected deputy federal leader of the Christian Democrats - W. Schäuble, and after 2000 - A. Merkel. However, he remained a member of the Landtag (Parliament).
As Prime Minister of the federal state
Since 2003, he has led the government in Lower Saxony as minister-president. In the re-elections of 2008, Christian Wulff remained in this post again. The years of his tenure as prime minister in this federal state were remembered by voters as a period of rather conservative government policy.
To overcome the budget deficit, it was necessary to cut scholarships for students, cut funds for education and he althcare. It is noteworthy that the budget surplus did not appear, but there were no dissatisfied unrest among the masses because of this occasion was not noted.
Since 2006, Wolfe has introduced a system of state funding for the employment of people who are unemployed.
He strongly opposed the development of nuclear energy in his country.
Christian Wulff became widely known after Aigul Oskan, who was a Muslim by religion, became the Minister for Social Affairs and Integration in the government. Its origin was Turkish. Before this case, this was not observed in the governments of the federal states of Germany.
A. Oskan proposed to remove the crucifixion of Christians from the Lower Saxon schools.
In 2005, Wulff was considered a likely candidate for the German chancellor, but he did not agree to participate in the elections for this position.
Christian Wulff is President. Years of government
After German President Horst Köhlerhad to leave his post in connection with statements about the expediency of military action in the event of protecting German trade interests, on June 30, 2010, in the third round of elections, Wulff was elected president of the Federal Republic of Germany. By age, this is the youngest president in the history of the country.
Wulff was nominated for the presidency by the Christian Democratic Union together with the Christian Social Union and the Free Democratic Party. His main competitor was pastor Joachim Gauck, nominated by the Social Democrats and the Greens, who previously headed the Stasi Federal Archives Office from 1990 to 2000.
After taking office as president, Wulf proactively suspended his membership in the Christian Democratic Union. He held this post until February 18, 2012, until his resignation caused by a corruption scandal.
Initiatives in high office
In October 2010, Christian Wulff, President of Germany, taking part in discussions discussing the role of Muslim immigration, stated in a speech marking the twentieth anniversary of the reunification of the German people that Islam is as important to the development of Germany as Christianity or Judaism.
The reaction to these statements in German society was very mixed. Chancellor and CDU leader Angela Merkel even had to come out with a refutation of the possibility of Islam becoming one of the pillars of German political culture.
Beginning of corruption scandal
At the end of 2011 in the newspaper"Bild" published information about the receipt of a five hundred thousand soft loan by Wolfe in October 2008. During his tenure as the Lower Saxon Prime Minister, these funds were received by him from the wife of one of the local businessmen E. Gerkens. The latter was referred to in the media as a close friend of Wolfe.
It is noteworthy that at the beginning of 2010, Wulff told the deputies of the Landtag of Lower Saxony that he had not entered into business relations with Gerkenson over the past decade. With this in mind, the president was suspected of breaking the law and deceiving the deputies.
A week after the publication of the above article, Woolf issued an apology, as well as a statement that he had submitted credit history information, reports on travel expenses to regulatory authorities. He expressed the opinion that the effectiveness of his work does not depend on personal contacts.
A new stage of the scandal
the owner of the newspaper) with demands to prevent the publication of an incriminating article, with threats of filing a lawsuit and breaking off relations with the publication.
4.01.2012 The president apologized on TV for his call to the Editor-in-Chief of Bild, saying thatit was a "big mistake".
However, in the same appeal, the president expressed the idea that there was nothing illegal in his actions, so he does not intend to leave his post. In this regard, politicians and the media attacked the president with harsh criticism. On January 7, 2012, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the capital of Germany, demanding that the head of the country leave.
Information appeared in the press that among the ruling coalition led by Merkel, there are many supporters of the president's resignation, and a replacement is already being prepared for him, but this information was refuted by government representatives.
Increase pressure
Throughout January and February, various publications appeared in the German press about the facts of abuse of his position by Wulff. In particular, he was blamed for lobbying the interests of the producer D. Grenewold during the period of his tenure as Prime Minister of Lower Saxony. For this, the latter paid the official's bills for vacations in various German hotels.
Some journalists wrote that in the summer months of 2011, the management of the Audi company provided the president with an Audi Q3 car for free rental even before the period when this model went on sale.
Christian Wulff, his wife, actively used this car for their own purposes.
16.02.2012 Based on the results of the checks, the Hanoverian prosecutor's office sent a request to the Bundestag to remove immunityincumbent.
17.02.2012 Wolf announced his resignation in view of the corruption allegations.
Opposition actions
21.02.2012 The SPD faction of the Landtag of Lower Saxony sent a statement to the judicial authorities against the government of the federal state. The latter was charged with the following: in 2010, in April, the Lower Saxon Cabinet, headed by Wulff at that time, misled parliament, since the fact of financial and organizational assistance to the land budget was hidden for holding in 2009 a private conference "Dialogue between North and South" for Lower Saxon and Baden-Württemberg businessmen.
The opposition believed that this event was held with the knowledge of Wolf, the organizer was O. Glesecker, who served as press secretary.
Positions held
Christian Wulff, whose years of government were listed above, managed to get a number of international posts. Such as:
- patron of the German National Society for the Cure of Multiple Sclerosis;
- honorary senator at the Salzburg Euroacademy of Science and Art;
- senator in the Max Planck Society;
- honorary doctorate from Shanghai Tongzhi University.
Marital status
Wulf got married twice. In 1988-2006 he was married to Christiane Vogt, in 1993 they had a daughter, who was named Anna-Lena.
Since 2008, his wife is Wettina Kerner. Themcommon son, named Luis Florian, was born at the same time, in 2008.
Religion Woolf adheres to the Catholic.
