German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described Rita Süssmuth as a “great politician” and a guiding light for democratic society after her death on Sunday, less than two weeks before her 89th birthday. As a federal minister and president of the Bundestag in the 1980s and 1990s, Merz said, she was a role model and pioneer for gender equality and the political influence of women, pushing for a modern, open society and setting standards for tolerance and international engagement.
Süssmuth was a significant figure in shaping postwar Germany. In 1989 she faced a key test when a group within her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) moved to remove party leader and chancellor Helmut Kohl. She joined those challenging Kohl, but he secured re-election with strong delegate support and those who opposed him were sidelined. Unlike some of her fellow dissenters, Süssmuth weathered the conflict and remained president of the Bundestag until 1998.
The break with Kohl left lasting tensions. Kohl, who had earlier promoted Süssmuth as part of a calculated plan to modernize the party, saw her opposition as betrayal. He had also been uneasy with her pace of social modernization when she served as minister for youth, family and health and later for women. Süssmuth, for her part, felt disappointed by Kohl’s unwillingness to confront the party’s conservative wing.
Born in Wuppertal in 1937, Süssmuth studied Romance languages and history in Münster, Tübingen and Paris and later educational science, sociology and psychology. She joined the CDU in 1981 and, within a few years, moved from relative political obscurity to become federal minister for youth, family and health—later also minister for women. Known for her distinctive short haircut and rectangular glasses, she did not shy from confronting conservative forces in the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, and achieved lasting reforms on issues she prioritized.
Süssmuth took a pragmatic, humane approach to public-health and social issues. In the late 1980s she emphasized education and medical care for people with HIV/AIDS and in 1987 launched an AIDS foundation. In drug policy she advocated leniency toward addicts coupled with tougher measures against dealers. She also supported moderate abortion policies and played a central role in the long campaign to criminalize rape within marriage in Germany—a change she later recalled had taken more than 25 years to achieve against arguments that domestic privacy or the sanctity of the family should shield such acts from prosecution.
As Bundestag president, Süssmuth oversaw the logistical and symbolic move of parliament from Bonn to Berlin and consistently promoted strong German-Polish ties and a modern immigration policy. After Kohl’s chancellorship ended in 1998 and Gerhard Schröder took office, she accepted the presidency of an immigration commission set up by the SPD-Greens government, a move that angered some in her own party but underscored her commitment to pragmatic reform.
Süssmuth remained a Bundestag member until 2002. Within the CDU she helped introduce feminist perspectives and advance the balance of family and career—a transformation she said took decades. She believed the party had become more receptive to these ideas and that progress made it easier for others, including Angela Merkel, to rise.
Widowed and a mother of one daughter, she was also a long-time advocate for adult education. Reflecting on her career, she acknowledged the loneliness and rejection that can come with public life but said she had no regrets about entering politics because it allowed her to change minds and influence action.
This article was originally published in German. Edited by: Andreas Illmer