Dorothee Wilms (October 11, 1929 in

Grevenbroich Grevenbroich () is a town in the Rhein-Kreis Neuss, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Erft, approximately 15 km southwest of Neuss and 15 km southeast of Mönchengladbach. Cologne and Düsseldorf are in a 30 ...

) is a German politician.Eva Kolinsky, ''Women in contemporary Germany: life, work, and politics'', Berg Publishers, 1993, p227 From 1982 to 1987 she was the Federal Minister for Education and Science and from 1987 to 1991 the Federal Minister for Inner-German relations.

Education and career

After finishing school in 1950, Wilms began studying economics, social policy and sociology in Cologne, graduating in 1954. In 1956 she received a PhD completing a study on the macro and micro-economic processes in the German economy. From 1953 to 1973 she worked as a research assistant for youth and vocational training at the Institute of German Economy in Cologne. From 1977 to 1982 she was the head of the Center for Research in educational and socio-political development.

Politics

In 1961 Dorothee Wilms joined the

Christian Democratic Union (Germany) The Christian Democratic Union of Germany (german: link=no, Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands ; CDU ) is a Christian democratic and liberal conservative political party in Germany. It is the major catch-all party of the centre-right ...

(CDU). From 1974 to 1976 she was deputy chairwoman of the CDU. In 1986 she was elected to the CDU Regional Executive,

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 ...

. She was a member of the Board of the

Konrad Adenauer Foundation The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (german: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, KAS) is a German political party foundation associated with but independent of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The foundation's headquarters are located in Sank ...

for 25 years until 2005.

Bundestag

From 1976 to 1994 Wilms was a member of the

German Bundestag German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

. There she was parliamentary business manager of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group from 1980 to 1982.

Public office

Wilms was appointed on 4 October 1982 as the Federal Minister for Education and Science in the Cabinet of

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...

. After the 1987 Bundestag elections, she was the Federal Minister for Intra-German relations. After German reunification, this ministry was dissolved. Since 1992 she was the chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Public Service Foundation Chancellor Adenauer-Haus in

Bad Honnef Bad Honnef () is a spa town in Germany near Bonn in the Rhein-Sieg district, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the border of the neighbouring state Rhineland-Palatinate. To the north it lies on the slopes of the Drachenfels (“Dragon's Ro ...

. She worked from 2000 to 2004 as chairperson of the Association of Former Members of the Bundestag and the European Parliament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilms, Dorothee 1929 births Living people Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Bundestag 1990–1994 Members of the Bundestag 1987–1990 Members of the Bundestag 1983–1987 Members of the Bundestag 1980–1983 Members of the Bundestag 1976–1980 University of Cologne alumni Female members of the Bundestag Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century German women politicians Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany