Christina Rau (born Christina Delius; 30 October 1956) is the widow of

Johannes Rau Johannes Rau (; 16 January 193127 January 2006) was a German politician (SPD). He was the president of Germany from 1 July 1999 until 30 June 2004 and the minister president of North Rhine-Westphalia from 20 September 1978 to 9 June 1998. In the ...

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...

from 1999–2004.

Early life

Rau is the maternal granddaughter of former President

Gustav Heinemann Gustav Walter Heinemann (; 23 July 1899 – 7 July 1976) was a German politician who was President of West Germany from 1969 to 1974. He served as mayor of Essen from 1946 to 1949, West German Minister of the Interior from 1949 to 1950, and Mini ...

. Her father was Eduard Delius, part in a long line of entrepreneurs in the textile industry of the

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

n city of

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...

while her mother was Christa Heinemann, a daughter of the former President. Through her mother, Rau is the niece of theologian

Uta Ranke-Heinemann Uta Ranke-Heinemann (2 October 1927 – 25 March 2021) was a German theologian, academic, and author. In 1969, she was the first woman in the world to be habilitated in Catholic theology. She held a chair of ancient Church history and the New ...

. She attended boarding school in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

(''Hochalpines Institut

Ftan Ftan is a former municipality in the district of Inn in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Ardez, Guarda, Tarasp, Ftan and Sent merged into the municipality of Scuol.United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

(

Gordonstoun Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. It is named after the estate owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 17th century; the school now uses this estate as its campus. It is located ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, where

Prince Andrew Prince Andrew, Duke of York, (Andrew Albert Christian Edward; born 19 February 1960) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger brother of King Charles III and the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince ...

was a contemporary). Subsequently, she studied political science, economics and history at the

University College of Wales , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

and at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

Wedding

On 9 August 1982, she married

, 25 years her senior and a long-time friend of the Heinemann family, who was at that time the Prime Minister of the German state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

Activities

She was the patron of : *

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

Germany, * the

Müttergenesungswerk The Müttergenesungswerk (MGW), full name ''Elly Heuss-Knapp-Stiftung, Deutsches Müttergenesungswerk'', is a charitable organisation founded in 1950 by Elly Heuss-Knapp (1881–1952), then First Lady of Germany as wife of Theodor Heuss. It aims ...

, * the Bundesverband der Organtransplantierten, * the Deutsche Kinder- und Jugendstiftung * the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

Youth of Germany.

Honours

Foreign Honours

* : **

AUT Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria - 2nd Class BAR

Grand Cross of the Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria * : ** EST Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana - 1st Class BAR

Grand Cross of the

Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana The Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana ( et, Maarjamaa Risti teenetemärk, sometimes translated as the Order of the Cross of St. Mary's Land) was instituted by the President of Estonia, Lennart Meri, on 16 May 1995 to honour the independence of ...

* : **

ISL Icelandic Order of the Falcon - Grand Cross BAR

Grand Cross of the

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon ( is, Hin íslenska fálkaorða) is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. N ...

* : **

LVA Order of the Three Stars - Commander BAR

Commander Grand Cross of the

Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars ( lv, Triju Zvaigžņu ordenis) is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is "Per aspera ad astra", meaning "Thr ...

* : **

Dame Grand Cross of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

Boletín Oficial del Estado
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References

External links

Björn Engholm Björn Engholm (born 9 November 1939) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He was Federal Minister for Education and Science from 1981 to 1982, and in 1982 also Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Forests. From 1 ...

:
Die First Lady
'' Spiegel Special 5/1999] * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rau, Christina 1956 births People educated at Gordonstoun Alumni of King's College London Living people People from Bielefeld Spouses of presidents of Germany Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class Recipients of the Grand Decoration with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria Recipients of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Dames Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Recipients of the Order of Merit of Berlin Johannes Rau