Germany's von Weizsaecker, president at unification, dies at 94
Former president, who helped confront nation's Nazi past by claiming Germany was liberated by Third Reich's fall, had been a distinguished Wehrmacht officer in WWII.
A member of one of Germany's most distinguished aristocratic families, von Weizsaecker also presided over the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990, 11 months after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
"All of us, whether guilty or not, whether young or old, must accept the past. We are all affected by its consequences and liable for it. Anyone who closes his eyes to the past is blind to the present. The 8th of May was a day of liberation. It freed us all from the system of National Socialist tyranny."
Von Weizsaecker, a conservative Christian Democrat (CDU) who had served as a Wehrmacht officer during World War Two, became West Germany's president in 1984 and left office a decade later.
He used the largely ceremonial post to serve as the "conscience of Germany" and spoke out about the country's special responsibility after World War Two.
In October 1985, Weizsaecker made the first visit to Israel by a West German head of state. Israeli counterpart Chaim Herzog in 1987 reciprocated with the first visit by an Israeli president to West Germany and praised Weizsaecker for his "positive stand" toward Israel and the Jewish people.
The 1985 speech "had an impact on an entire generation and has shaped Germany's image as an integrating force in the middle of our continent," said Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the European Commission. It gave Weizsaecker "political authority far beyond Germany's borders," he added.
"The death of Richard von Weizsaecker is a great loss for Germany," Chancellor Angela Merkel said. "He rendered a great service to our country. We won't forget him."
After a career in law and business, von Weizsaecker entered politics in 1969 and in 1981 became mayor of West Berlin. His statesmanlike speeches helped raise West Germany's standing in the eyes of the wartime allied powers, easing concerns about unification later.
He drew criticism for having served in Hitler's army, where he was promoted several times and in 1944 awarded the Iron Cross. The young lawyer also defended his father Ernst, who served in the Nazi foreign ministry from 1938 to 1943 and was a member of the SS, at the Nuremberg trials in 1948-49.
Defending himself, von Weizsaecker said: "Guilt, like innocence, is always a matter for the individual." As an officer, he said, he had acted according to his principles, and refused to instruct his troops to carry out orders which came from top Nazis if he found them "inhumane".
