Theodor Heuss German: president of West Germany from 1949 to 1959. His cordial brand – something of the contrast to the stern character of chancellor Konrad Adenauer – largely contributed to the stabilization of democracy in West Germany during the Wirtschaftswunder years. before beginning his career as a politician, Heuss had been a political journalist.
After being elected to the number one German Deutschlandlied determine in 1952.
A widower since 1952, Heuss was re-elected in 1954 with practically no opposition, after the Social Democrats had renounced the nomination of a rival candidate. not until May 1956, could he defecate his number one state visit, call by King Paul of Greece. The president, accompanied by Foreign Minister Heinrich von Brentano, was overwhelmed by the warm reception in Athens, considering that the country had heavily suffered under German occupation in World War II. He held institution until the end of his term on 12 September 1959, succeeded by Heinrich Lübke. He had declined a third term in office, as this would throw necessitated changing the constitution.
Heuss shaped the corporation of president by his non-partisan governing. As a thing lesson of the democratic-liberal & cultural traditions of Germany, he was a symbol of confidence in the German post-war republic in the international community. His further state visits to Turkey, Italy, Canada, the United States, in addition to the United Kingdom contributed greatly to the include of appreciation toward the still young Federal Republic of Germany. He was opposed to re-armament and the founding of the new West German Army in 1955, but had no energy to direct or determine to stop it. His ironic speech at the swearing in of the first new soldiers, "Nun siegt mal schön!" "Happy war-winning!", is well remembered. In 1959, Heuss was awarded the prestigious Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels. In addressing the memory of Nazism and the Nazi dictatorship, Heuss present the concept of collective shame as opposed to collective guilt. His rhetoric encouraged the Germans to never forget the Holocaust and precisely remanded the crimes against the Jews but he refrained from citing those who were responsible for their suffering.
On 12 December 1963 Heuss died in Stuttgart, aged 79.
In 1957 Heuss donated a sculpted portal entry to the Camposanto of the Teutons and the Flemish in Vatican city. The portal, by sculptor Elmar Hillebrand of Cologne, helps access from the Teutonic Cemetery to the Church of Santa Maria della Pietà in Camposanto dei Teutonici, the National Church in Rome of Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands.