"The pension is safe" - almost everyone knew this sentence by Norbert Blüm. Now the CDU politician has died.
- Norbert Blüm was Helmut Kohl's permanent minister .
- One sentence of the CDU politician is particularly well known: "The pension is secure" .
- Now the former Minister of Labor and Social Affairs has died at the age of 84.
Update from April 27: A few days after his death, the relatives of Norbert Blüm speak in the express - and even more: they mention his last great wish:
"If you want to support the humanitarian concerns of the deceased, we kindly ask you to donate to the Kinderothilfe, keyword" Norbert Blüm ".
Donation account Kindersothilfe eV IBAN: DE 92 3506 0190 0000 4545 40
The man who described the pension as secured and who still traveled far to refugee camps at the age of 80 shows his big heart once again.
All in all, the many positive statements made after Blüm's death gave the family strength. "Of course we are happy that the reactions are positive, The sentence: The pension is safe, has always been like an eternal sledgehammer. But we notice that he is seen differently today, ”says his son Christian, according to the report.
His widow Marita explains: “He would be very happy that there is now a second opinion. At the time, he was right. There is no malice and you can see how popular he was. I am particularly pleased that so many people are finally able to appreciate this sentence. There is only good left of his legacy. ”
Blüm spent his last hours with the family. He fell asleep peacefully. "It was nice that he could be in his garden until the end and that we exchanged a lot," says Christian.
At the beginning of May, Norbert Blüm is buried in Bonn.
The then CDU MP Norbert Blüm in 1976 in the Bundestag.
© dpa / Egon Steiner
Update of April 26 : After the death of former Labor Minister Norbert Blüm, many newspapers publish obituaries. In a guest article for the newspaper Welt , President of the Bundestag Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) honored him as a companion, "whose humanity and Rhenish humor remain unforgettable to me".
Schäuble writes about his former party colleague: “Norbert Blüm had a fighting spirit. He already proved this as an apprentice and toolmaker at Opel when he campaigned for youth rights as a youth representative. Later, as a committed social politician, he was by no means always in agreement with the party chairman and the Federal Chancellor, but he never avoided the argument, which distinguished him. ”
Schäuble on the death of Norbert Blüm: "Nobody who preached water and drank wine"
Schäuble also remembers in the world (article behind payment barrier): In his person, being a Christian was combined in a special way with the conviction of the Democrat. He was not someone who preached water and drank wine, nor did his sense of justice end at national borders. In his international commitment to human rights, he had the courage to speak out in an unsafe place. ”
Schäuble writes with great appreciation about Blüm's pioneering introduction of statutory long-term care insurance in 1995. "We will lack its disarming directness in the political public," explains Schäuble and concludes his obituary: "If his striking, wrongly often mocked statement about the safe Remaining in retirement not only survives a political promise and an important obligation of the welfare state, but above all a very personal political ethos. "
Norbert Blüm is dead: Merkel posts moving picture - Seehofer says goodbye emotionally
Update of April 25, 8:20 am: "He had the head of a sharp and differentiated thinker." With this appreciation, Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer also reported in an obituary for the Bild newspaper to the deceased Norbert Blüm (CDU): In it he him his "teacher" . Together they had fought for Christian social values and positions, said the CSU politician. That is why they were called the "Sacred Heart Socialists". He also paid tribute to Blüm's oeuvre: “As an advocate of Christian social teaching, he spent his life searching for the middle ground between the welfare state and neoliberalism. And he was successful. "
According to Seehofer, Blüm was a “political veteran” , of which there are only a few in the republic: “He had everything that makes up a complete politician. He was a man of high moral standards and his heart was in the right place . He had the gut feeling and down-to-earth attitude not to take off. ”
Norbert Blüm died - politics mourns
Update from 16:28: Left boss Bernd Riexinger has recognized the late ex-Federal Minister of Labor Norbert Blüm (CDU) as "Union's social conscience". "During his time as minister, he campaigned for the introduction of long-term care insurance and opposed the privatization of pensions," Riexinger told AFP on Friday.
Blüm remained true to himself "when he last spent a night in a tent in the Idomeni refugee camp". This was a symbolic act "with which he drew attention to the plight of refugees and the inhumane consequences of German refugee policy".
Blüm traveled to Idomeni in 2016 to draw attention to the situation of the refugees there. The former minister died on Friday night at the age of 84. From 1982 to 1998 he was Federal Minister of Labor and Social Order under the then Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl (CDU).
Former Minister of Labor Norbert Blüm has died.
© picture alliance / dpa / Rolf Vennenbernd
Norbert Blüm is dead: Merkel is hard hit and posts a touching picture
Update from 12.15 p.m .: The death of Norbert Blüm causes dismay. Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) said on Friday that together with Blüm she belonged to Helmut Kohl's cabinet in the 1990s and that he had "strongly influenced" her work.
Blüm had known the workbench and the ministerial table alike, the Chancellor said in a statement. She paid tribute to Blüms for the introduction of long-term care insurance , which has been around for 25 years. The Chancellor had become aware of Blüm's death "with great dismay". She expresses her “deeply felt compassion” to relatives.
Check out this post on Instagram
Chancellor Merkel: “I am very sad about the news of Norbert Blüm's death. I worked with the former Minister of Labor Norbert Blüm from 1990 to 1998 in Helmut Kohl's cabinet. It has had a major impact on my political work. Norbert Blüm was a politician who could formulate modern social policy in a way that everyone could understand. He is remembered as a personality who has always been close to people. He knew the workbench and ministerial desk. His heart beat for the people who built our country with their work. He played a key role in shaping the social market economy. I express my heartfelt sympathy and sympathy to his relatives and friends. ”#Rip #Gedenken #norbertbluem # norbertblüm #politik (archive picture, 1991) (c) imago images / Sepp Spiegl
A post shared by Angela Merkel (@bundeskanzlerin) on Apr 24, 2020 at 4:08 p.m. PDT
Norbert Blüm is dead - Steinmeier: "Outstanding political personality"
Frank-Walter Steinmeier praised the CDU politician in a letter of condolence to his widow as "outstanding personality in the history of Germany". The Federal President continued: "His name will always remain closely linked to his extraordinary commitment to pension policy".
Blüm was "an intrepid lawyer for the citizens and a reminder to preserve creation". Steinmeier went on to say that Blüm was particularly fond of the younger generation with their questions about a just and ecological future.
Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) said on Twitter:
"Solidarity is the political form of charity," said Norbert # Blüm. Germany lost a politician and person tonight who carried so much of this charity. We will miss Norbert Blüm.
- Heiko Maas (@HeikoMaas) April 24, 2020Laschet on the death of Blüm: he was "social conscience of the Bonn Republic"
North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Armin Laschet has recognized Blüm as the "social conscience of the Bonn Republic". Blüm was "one of the best-known and most popular personalities in post-war history," said Laschet on Friday. "He was cheerful, close to people and arguable."
Blüm fought for the weakest and at the same time was "brave towards the powerful". "His appearance as minister in Chile, when he openly criticized torture against the dictator Pinochet , remains unforgettable to me."
The deputy CDU federal chairman also emphasized his personal connection to Blüm. "He gave me personal advice a lot, you could laugh with him and listen to him for hours," wrote Laschet.
Health expert Karl Lauterbach (SPD) called Blüm a personal role model:
Norbert was a very good person who, until a few days ago, was committed to helping people who are sick and in need of care. A role model for every social politician, including me. His death is a loss for our whole country. We will miss him! https://t.co/Du6jHu8nbY
- Karl Lauterbach (@Karl_Lauterbach) April 24, 2020AKK on the death of Norbert Blüm: he was the reason to join the CDU
"Norbert Blüm was one of the reasons why I joined the CDU," said CDU chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on Südwestrundfunk . “He combined heart and expertise and humor in a distinctive personality. He was always clear and arguable in the best democratic sense, ”she said.
Norbert Blüm is dead - Lindner appreciates the humor of the CDU politician
The FDP chairman Christian Lindner also paid tribute to Blüm's life's work and described him as a "passionate politician from the tradition of Catholic social teaching". His party had argued with him over some questions of economic and pension policy. "Nevertheless, we have the greatest respect for his merits for our country," tweeted Lindner. He also emphasized the great humor of Blum.
Norbert Blüm died: Helmut Kohl's political companion for many years
First report of April 24 : Bonn - Former Labor and Social Affairs Minister Norbert Blüm is dead. The CDU politician died at the age of 84 , his son told the German Press Agency in Bonn on Friday. The family initially did not provide any further information. Since 2019, Blüm was paralyzed from arms and legs due to blood poisoning * and was in a wheelchair.
Blüm was the only minister to accompany Chancellor Helmut Kohl throughout the 16 years of his reign (1982-1998) in the cabinet. In the black and yellow coalition, depending on the political location, it was considered a “social conscience” or “social fig leaf”. His most sustainable achievement was the introduction of long-term care insurance in 1995.
Norbert Blüm is dead: His "pension is certain" became the saying
However, one of the most memorable memories of a poster campaign from 1986 was that he had his picture taken in front of an advertising column, on which a poster was emblazoned with the slogan: "Because one thing is certain - the pension". The shortened sentence "The pension is safe" became a proverb.
In Germany politician Norbert Blüm coined to famous phrase "State pensions are safe" in 1986. That is how old this discussion really is.
As a teenager at school 20y ago I decided -looking at an age distribution chart- that I want no part of it.
The signs were there for decades. pic.twitter.com/K3gJwGtqvw
The worker son from Rüsselsheim (born July 21, 1935) was a trained toolmaker. He did his Abitur at the evening high school, studied philosophy, history and theology. His political foster father, the CDU social politician Hans Katzer (1919-1996), made the committed IG Metall member 1968 the chief executive of the CDU social committees. From 1977 onwards, Blüm headed the Christian Democratic Workforce (CDA) for ten years.
Former Labor Minister Norbert Blüm was socially involved - and even did cabaret
After leaving federal politics, Blüm continued to be socially involved, wrote books, appeared on television as a talk show guest and even did cabaret.
Blüm had been married to Marita Blüm since 1964, whom he had met during his studies. The couple had three children: two daughters and son Christian, who is a member of the Kölschrock band Brings.
dpa / AFP / frs
* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
List of rubric lists: © dpa / Rolf Vennenbernd