A wise and respected voice
Germany's former President Richard Weizsäcker was not only the country's head of state but also a former mayor of Berlin. He held the office of president during the process of reunification, and became a moral authority.
An outstanding politician
He was born in a palace in Stuttgart and would become both the governor of Berlin and the sixth president of the Federal Republic of Germany. Richard von Weizsäcker, who belonged to the Christian Democratic Union, was known as a moral authority in Germany.
Fraught family ties
His father, Ernst von Weizsäcker, was a senior figure in Hitler's NSDAP. After the Second World War, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for war crimes. He was convicted for complicity in the deportation of Jews, a sentence that would influence the life of his son, Richard von Weizsäcker.
Early political life
He married his wife Marianne Weizsäcker, with whom he had four children, in 1953. After studying law, he worked in a number of leading companies in Germany, among them Boehringer Ingelheim. Von Weizsäcker joined the CDU in 1954. Helmut Kohl discovered him early and recommended him for the office of president in 1968 - without success.
A respected mayor
In 1982, as governor of Berlin, he received - together with then Chancellor Helmut Schmidt - the president of the United States, Ronald Reagan. He was able to push through a number of reforms during his tenure in Berlin, including the creation of an immigration representative.
Bridging the divide
On September 15, 1983, von Weizsäcker was received by the head of East Germany, Erich Honecker, in East Berlin. This was the first meeting of its kind, and it was an important symbol of reconciliation between East and West Germany. This was one reason why von Weizsäcker was named honorary citizen of the German capital following reunification, in 1990.
A respected statesman
On July 1, 1984, von Weizsäcker was voted almost unanimously as president of Germany. From then on, he was seen as a high representative of the republic and respected for his humor and the way in which he represented Germany as head of state.
Words that live on
"May 8, 1945 was a day of liberation." Richard von Weizsäcker made his observation about the end of the Second World War during a commemoration ceremony in 1985. He received both praise and criticism for speaking those words - and went down in history.
On the periphery
During his tenure as president, the reunification of West and East Germany took place. Helmut Kohl will forever be known as the "Chancellor of Re-Unity," though von Weizsäcker remained on the fringe. He preferred not to overemphasize the convergence of the German two states.
Campaign for Europe
Even after his tenure, von Weizsäcker remained active on a political level. Before the eventual implementation of the euro in 2001, he could be seen as a campaigner for the European currency, a sign of his desire for a unified Europe - or at least a monetary European Union.