ADENAUER, KONRAD

born Jan. 5, 1876, Cologne [now in Germany] died April 19, 1967, Rhndorf, W.Ger. first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany; 1949-63), presiding over its reconstruction after World War II. A Christian Democrat and firmly anticommunist, he supported NATO, and he worked to reconcile Germany with its former enemies, especially France. Additional reading Konrad Adenauer, Erinnerungen, 4 vol. (1965-68), his autobiography encompassing the years 1945 to 1963; Rudolf Morsey and Konrad Repgen (eds.), Adenauer-Studien, vol. 1 (1971), contributions by four German historians and political scientists on the politics and personality of Adenauer; Paul Weymar, Konrad Adenauer (1955), an authorized popular biography that provides the best description of his life.