Christina Rau (born Christina Delius; 30 October 1956 in Bielefeld) is the widow of Johannes Rau, President of Germany from 1999–2004.

Contents

• 1 Early life
• 2 Wedding
• 3 Activities
• 4 Honours
  • 4.1 Foreign Honours
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Early life

Rau is the maternal granddaughter of former President Gustav Heinemann. Her father was Eduard Delius, part in a long line of entrepreneurs in the textile industry of the Westphalian city of Bielefeld while her mother was Christa Heinemann, a daughter of the former President. Through her mother, Rau is the niece of theologian Uta Ranke-Heinemann. She attended boarding school in Switzerland (Hochalpines Ins*ut Ftan) and the United Kingdom (Gordonstoun in Scotland, where Prince Andrew was a contemporary). Subsequently, she studied political science, economics and history at the University College of Wales and at King's College London.

Wedding

On 9 August 1982, she married Johannes Rau, 25 years her senior and a long-time friend of the Heinemann family, who was at that time the Prime Minister of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Activities

She was the patron of::

• UNICEF Germany,
• the Müttergenesungswerk,
• the Bundesverband der Organtransplantierten,
• the Deutsche Kinder- und Jugendstiftung
• the Red Cross Youth of Germany.

Honours

Foreign Honours

• :Austria:
  • Grand Cross of the Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
• :Estonia:
  • Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana
• :Iceland:
  • Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon
• :Latvia:
  • Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Three Stars
• :Spain:
  • Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic

References

External links

• Björn Engholm: Die First Lady, Spiegel Special 5/1999]
• "Anne Will: Die Gäste im Studio, Sendung vom 17.01.2010, 21.45 Uhr: Christina Rau, Kindernothilfe-Botschafterin" (in German). Bayerischer Rundfunk. Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2010.