Horst Köhler

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Horst Köhler
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Horst Köhler

Horst Köhler (born February 22, 1943 in Skierbieszów, Poland) became president of the Federal Republic of Germany July 1, 2004. Before that he was the director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

On March 4, 2004 he was nominated by members of the CDU, CSU, and the FDP (acronym for German political parties) to come forward as common candidate for the president election on May 23, 2004. For this reason he abdicated (gave up) his position as director of the IMF.

Before his nomination he worked abroad (in other countries), so only 20% of the Germans knew him, and a German newspaper called 'Bild' headlined 'Horst Wer???' which means 'Horst Who???'.

On May 23, 2004 the German 'Bundesversammlung', which consist of 1.205 members, chose Horst Köhler as the new German president (in German: Bundespräsident) of the Federal Republic of Germany with 604 votes. That was one vote more than the needed absolute majority.