What is Johannes Rau?
{{unreferenced|date=January 2012}} {{Infobox_President | name =Johannes Rau | nationality =German | image =Johannes rau 2004-05-16 berlin-RZ.jpg| | order =8th [[President of Germany]] | term_start =1 July 1999 | term_end =30 June 2004 | vicepresident = | predecessor =[[Roman Herzog]] | successor =[[Horst Köhler]] | birth_date =16 January 1931 | birth_place =[[File:Flag of Germany (3-2 aspect ratio).svg|25px]] [[Wuppertal]], [[Weimar Republic|Germany]] | death_date ={{death date and age|2006|1|27|1931|1|16}} | death_place =[[File:Flag of Germany.svg|25px]] [[Berlin]], Germany | party =[[SPD]] | spouse =[[Christina Rau]] | profession =[[Journalist]] | religion = }} '''Johannes Rau''' (16 January 1931, [[Wuppertal]] – 27 January 2006, [[Berlin]]) was a German politician of the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]]. He was the eighth [[President of Germany|President of the Federal Republic of Germany]] from 1 July 1999 until 30 June 2004 and [[minister president]] of [[North Rhine-Westphalia]] from 1978 to 1998. == Education and work == He was born in [[Barmen]], [[Wuppertal]]. His family was [[Protestant]], and he was active in the [[Confessing Church]], a part of the German Protestant Church which was against [[Nazism]]. Rau left school in 1949 and worked as a journalist and publisher. == Political biography == Rau was a member of the [[All-German People's Party]] (GVP), which was founded by [[Gustav Heinemann]], who also became a president of Germany. This party only existed from 1952 until 1957. In 1958 Rau and Heinemann joined the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany]] (SDP), where he was active in the [[Wuppertal]] branch. He served on the City Council (1964-1978), where he was as chairman of the SDP Group (1964-1967) and later as Mayor (1969-1970). In 1958 Rau was elected a member of the ''Landtag'' (state parliament) of [[North Rhine-Westphalia]]. In 1967 he became chairman of the SPD group in the Landtag, and in 1970 Minister of Science and Education in the cabinet of [[Minister President]] [[Heinz