01.01.2021
The former parliamentary director of the Union parliamentary group died on December 30th at the age of 75
Joachim Hörster was one of the most influential personalities in federal politics for many years. The Westerwald native was firmly anchored in his home country and knew how to translate the values of the Christian Democratic Party into practical politics for a long time in Bonn and later in Berlin. As the parliamentary managing director of the Union parliamentary group from 1992 to 2000 and as the long-time chairman of the Rhineland-Palatinate regional group, the lawyer was considered the manager of everyday business behind the scenes. His name is closely connected to the era of the then Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl. But Hörster also maintained a good relationship with today’s Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The CDU, as Hörster said on many occasions, is not an ideological party. Rather, it reacts to different circumstances and developments with pragmatic policies. His political style was widely recognized, even after his time as Parliamentary Executive Director. In 2009, Hörster led the Rhineland-Palatinate CDU as the top candidate in the federal election campaign. At a young age, Hörster studied law and political science in Freiburg and Mainz and then worked as a lawyer. He joined the CDU in 1965 and was chairman of the Oberwesterwald district association of the Junge Union from 1969 to 1973. From 1972 to 1983, the family man and father of two children held the office of mayor of the Westerburg community.
From 1993 to 2005 he was chairman of the CDU district association Koblenz-Montabaur. Hörster was a member of the German Bundestag from 1987 to 2013. In 1998 he entered parliament via the Rhineland-Palatinate state list, otherwise always as a directly elected member.
Joachim Hörster died on Wednesday at the age of 75. The CDU / CDU parliamentary group keeps the committed politician an honorable memory.
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