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For the next twelve years Adenauer was a virtual prisoner in his home at Rhöndorf. "I became a very good gardener," he says. Twice the Gestapo arrested him, but he was treated as an Ehrenschutzhäftling (honorary prisoner) and released unharmed. But Adenauer heard and saw enough of Gestapo brutality to feel bitterly ashamed of his countrymen.
Big Mistake. World War II came to an end for Konrad Adenauer on a quiet Sunday morning. The U.S. 9th Armored Division broke into Rhöndorf in its drive for the Remagen bridgehead. The lead tank fired three shells in the general direction of a 69-year-old gentleman who was quietly tilling his garden in overalls and straw hat. Adenauer threw himself down and escaped with nothing worse than bruises.
He was still convalescing when a message arrived from the U.S. commander in Cologne, reinstating him as mayor. Five months later, when Cologne became a part of the British zone, Adenauer was sacked for "inefficiency." The British government has since offered to "confess its mistake," but Adenauer has no hard feelings? Being fired by the British made him a hero, and his popularity boomed. He began laying the foundations for his Christian Democratic Union (C.D.U.), and when the Allies summoned a Parliamentary Council, he was named its president.
In the debates over a constitution for the new West German State, Adenauer threw his weight on the side of a strong executive, which he knew from experience was needed to govern Germany. Adenauer had his way, and, so far, the German constitution that resulted has proved far more workable than the French and Italian systems, which make the executive the prisoner of the legislature.
He also led the movement to establish the new German capital in his native Rhineland. "The future capital of Germany should be located among the vineyards," said he, "not in potato fields." One by one, Adenauer ticked off the other possibilities: Berlin—"a city where the monkeys still swing from the trees"; Frankfurt—"too immoral." Adenauer plumped for Bonn, which, conveniently, was within easy commuting distance from his home in Rhöndorf. As usual, he got what he wanted.
I Am 70%. The 1949 elections made Adenauer Chancellor by the irreducible margin of one vote (his majority in the Bundestag: 202 out of 402). His governing coalition has never commanded a steady majority, yet for four years Adenauer has given Germany the most stable government of any large nation in Europe. Most of the time he ruled by sheer force of character, ignoring hostile votes, whittling, down men whom he could not overawe, driving where he could not lead. He has the courage to be unpopular.
Adenauer hates to delegate power (he is his own Foreign Minister as well as Chancellor). He trusts no one's judgment but his own. and when subordinates fail to follow his reasoning, he raps out a sarcastic reprimand: "Mein lieber Freund, aren't you intelligent?" His Cabinet members protest that he acts first and consults them afterwards. Asked once if his colleagues would support a controversial measure, Adenauer snapped: "Don't worry about that. I am at least 70% of the Cabinet."