GERMANY: Germany holds memorial service for deceased former President Johannes Rau

Record ID: 866157

  • Title: GERMANY: Germany holds memorial service for deceased former President Johannes Rau
  • Date: 8th February 2006
  • Summary: (EU) BERLIN, GERMANY (FEBRUARY 7, 2005) (REUTERS) FORMER GERMAN CHANCELLOR GERHARD SCHROEDER AND WIFE DORIS SCHROEDER-KOEPF ARRIVING FOR SERVICE OUTSIDE CATHEDRAL
  • Embargoed: 23rd February 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • City:
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA5IWII209CIIBQGAWWH6UUIDH1
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  • Story Text: Germany held a state funeral on Tuesday (February 7) for former President Johannes Rau who passed away after a long illness, shortly after his 75th birthday.
    Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Horst Koehler were among the 1,500 guests from Germany and abroad who attended the memorial service at Berlin's Dom cathedral.
    Rau was elected German president for a five-year term in 1999. He will be remembered for his speech to the Israeli parliament in 2000 when he delivered an apology for Germany's Nazi crimes.
    Becoming president was the culmination of the social democrat's 50-year political career, which came after he had served as premier in Germany's most populous state North Rhine-Westphalia for 20 years.
    During the memorial service, Rau's widow Christina and their children Laura, Philip and Anna were flanked by President Horst Koehler and his wife Eva-Louise.
    The presidents of Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Lithuania also in attendance, while Israel sent its ambassador.
    Rau was laid to rest in a private ceremony at Berlin's Dorotheenstaedtischer Friedhof cemetery, near the graves of German poet Bertolt Brecht and author Thomas Mann.

    STATE FUNERALS
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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