Memorial Page for Rita Süssmuth (née Rita Kickuth)

Rita Süssmuth (born Rita Kickuth on 17 February 1937 in Wuppertal; died 1 February 2026 in Neuss) was a German educational scientist and politician of the Christian Democratic Union. She served as federal minister for youth, family, women and health and from 1988 to 1998 as President of the German Bundestag. Her political work connected family policy, women's policy, health policy and democratic responsibility.

Academic work and early path

Süssmuth grew up in North Rhine-Westphalia and studied Romance languages, history, education, educational science, sociology and psychology in Münster, Tübingen and Paris. She received her doctorate in 1964. She worked as a university teacher, including in Bochum and Dortmund, and led the Women and Society research center in Hanover. Her move into politics grew out of the connection between scholarship, family research and social practice.

Minister and AIDS policy

On 26 September 1985 Süssmuth became federal minister for youth, family and health. The portfolio was later expanded to include women. She worked for better compatibility of family and employment and brought women's policy questions onto the federal government's agenda. Her response to HIV and AIDS became especially influential: Süssmuth relied on education, prevention and respect rather than stigmatization. That clearly separated her from voices that mainly demanded exclusion during the crisis.

President of the Bundestag

On 25 November 1988 Süssmuth was elected President of the German Bundestag. She held the office for almost ten years. She led parliament through the years of the fall of the Berlin Wall, German unity and the institutional move toward Berlin. Süssmuth did not understand the office as political silence. She continued to speak about equality, social participation, parity and democratic responsibility.

CDU and independence

Süssmuth was a Christian Democrat, but not an easy party figure. Within the CDU she objected when she judged women's rights, family models or the treatment of minorities differently from the party majority. This independence made her credible to many people. She combined Catholic formation with social openness and insisted that politics take concrete lives seriously.

Later years

After leaving the Bundestag in 2002, Süssmuth remained publicly active. She continued to work for democracy, integration, women in parliaments and social cohesion. Even at an advanced age she commented on political questions. After her death, the Bundestag and the federal government especially honored her persistence, her empathy and her commitment against exclusion.

Farewell

Rita Süssmuth died in Neuss on 1 February 2026. She was 88 years old. On 24 February 2026 the German Bundestag said farewell to her with a state memorial ceremony in Berlin. Her memory remains connected with a politics that thought women's rights, family policy, health and parliamentary democracy together.