Dorothee Wilms is a German politician.

From 1982 to 1987 she was the Federal Minister for Education and Science and from 1987 to 1991 the Federal Minister for Inner-German relations.

Education and career

After finishing school in 1950, Wilms began studying economics, social policy and sociology in Cologne, graduating in 1954. In 1956 she received a PhD completing a study on the macro and micro-economic processes in the German economy. From 1953 to 1973 she worked as a research assistant for youth and vocational training at the Institute of German Economy in Cologne. From 1977 to 1982 she was the head of the Center for Research in educational and socio-political development.

Politics

In 1961 Dorothee Wilms joined the Christian Democratic Union (Germany)

Christian Democratic Union (Germany)

The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...

(CDU). From 1974 to 1976 she was deputy chairwoman of the CDU. In 1986 she was elected to the CDU Regional Executive, North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...

. She was a member of the Board of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation

Konrad Adenauer Foundation

The Konrad Adenauer Foundation is a German political party foundation associated with the centre-right Christian Democratic Union . The foundation's headquarters are located in Saint Augustine and Berlin. Globally, the KAS has 78 offices and runs programs in over 100 countries...

 for 25 years until 2005.

Bundestag

From 1976 to 1994 Wilms was a member of the German Bundestag. There she was parliamentary business manager of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group from 1980 to 1982.

Public office

Wilms was appointed on 4 October 1982 as the Federal Minister for Education and Science in the Cabinet of Chancellor

Chancellor

Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...

 Helmut Kohl

Helmut Kohl

Helmut Josef Michael Kohl is a German conservative politician and statesman. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union from 1973 to 1998...

. After the 1987 Bundestag elections, she was the Federal Minister for Intra-German relations. After German reunification, this ministry was dissolved. Since 1992 she was the chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Public Service Foundation Chancellor Adenauer-Haus in Bad Honnef

Bad Honnef

Bad Honnef is a spa town in Germany near Bonn in the Rhein-Sieg district, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the border of the neighbouring state Rhineland-Palatinate...

. She worked from 2000 to 2004 as chairperson of the Association of Former Members of the Bundestag and the European Parliament.