Norbert Blüm Wiki – Norbert Blüm Bio

Norbert Blüm (21 July 1935 – 23 April 2020) was a German politician, serving as federal legislator from North Rhine-Westphalia, chairman of the CDU (1987–1999), and minister of labor and social affairs—the only cabinet member who served in his function for all sixteen years of Helmut Kohl’s time as Chancellor of Germany.

Norbert Blüm Age

He was 84 years old.

Norbert Blüm Life & Education

Nobert Born in Rüsselsheim, Blüm trained locally as a toolmaker for Opel. During this time, he was a founding member of the local Boy Scouts within the Deutsche Pfadfinderschaft Sankt Georg. Later he studied German language and literature, history and philosophy.

Norbert Blüm Death & Cause

Former Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Norbert Blüm died at 84, his family announced Friday. Blüm was a close ally of former Foreign Minister Helmut Kohl and also served as president of the center-right Christian Democratic Union for more than a decade.

Norbert Blüm Career

During his time in office, Blüm famously held out and pushed back against demands by fellow Christian Democratic Union politicians, to raise the federal retirement age from 65 to 70 His popular quote “Die Rente ist sicher” (loosely translated to: “Pensions are untouchable”) is a misquotation. It was a slogan he wielded in 1986 (“Eins ist sicher: Die Rente”, “One thing is untouchable: pensions”). This misquotation quickly gained notoriety in Germany and became a popular target for comedy, as well as a cynical reference to be popularized by his opponents and critics for years to come. After almost three decades, Blüm himself took part in it, by mocking said quote on the German TV show Neues aus der Anstalt.

Especially during his political career, Blüm was an outspoken critic of Scientology. As a consequence, he was targeted by Scientology advocates, who would claim that the organization was a victim of religious discrimination in Germany.