Roland Koch
| Roland Koch | |
|---|---|
Roland Koch, 2008
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| Minister President of Hessen | |
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In office 7 April 1999 – 31 August 2010 |
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| Preceded by | Hans Eichel |
| Succeeded by | Volker Bouffier |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
24 March 1958 Frankfurt am Main, West Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Political party | CDU |
| Alma mater | Goethe University Frankfurt |
| Occupation | Jurist |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Website | www |
Roland Koch (born 24 March 1958) is a German jurist and former conservative politician. He was the 7th Minister President of Hesse from 7 April 1999, immediately becoming the 53rd President of the Bundesrat, completing the term begun by his predecessor as Minister President, Hans Eichel, until his resignation on 31 August 2010. During his time in office, Koch was widely regarded as one of Chancellor Angela Merkel's main rivals within the CDU.
Koch was born in Frankfurt am Main.
In 1979, Koch became the youngest person to hold the office of chairman of the CDU in Main-Taunus district. From 1983 until 1987 he was vice-chair of the federal youth organization of the CDU. In 1985 he completed his studies to become a lawyer.
Until 1993 Koch was a city council member in his hometown of Eschborn. He was also a member of the Main-Taunus district council and parliamentary leader of the local CDU group from 1989 until 1997. In 1987 he got elected to the legislature of Hessen, where he became vice-chair of the CDU parliamentary group in 1991 and in 1993 its chair. From 1998 he has also been chair of the Hessian state party.
Koch is seen as a rhetorically gifted politician; critics have accused him of populism. In the state elections in 1999, the CDU began collecting signatures to document the resistance in the population to plans of the federal government to make dual citizenship easier for foreigners to obtain. Because some people viewed this action as "collecting signatures against foreigners", they tried to portray this campaign as "xenophobic". Koch was able to win the election and displace the incumbent, Hans Eichel. Under his leadership, the CDU achieved the best result for the party there in 60 years.
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