Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (1876-1967) was a German statesman and politician who served as the first Chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. Born on January 5, 1876, in Cologne to a lawyer father, he came from a Catholic family of humble background emphasizing order and discipline. Adenauer studied law at the universities of Freiburg, Munich, and Bonn, later practicing as a lawyer, judge, and assessor. His early political career began with the Catholic Zentrum party; he joined Cologne City Council and became Lord Mayor of Cologne in 1917, a position he held until dismissed by the Nazis in 1933. During the Nazi era, he was involved in resistance activities. After World War II, Adenauer played a pivotal role in West Germany's reconstruction. In 1946, he was elected the first chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the Rhineland and British Zone, leading the party until 1966. As Chancellor, the firmly anticommunist Christian Democrat oversaw West Germany's economic miracle, integration into NATO, and early steps toward European unification, earning him recognition as one of the founding fathers of the European Union. He resigned in 1963 amid health issues and party tensions but remained an influential figure until his death on April 19, 1967.