PROFILE: Scandal-tainted Wulff served shortest German presidency

By Jean-Baptiste Piggin Feb 17, 2012, 13:17 GMT

Berlin - Some 19 months into his presidency, Germany's tenth president, Christian Wulff, was forced to resign as prosecutors sought to lift his immunity on suspicion that he had accepted favours from well-heeled friends.

His image was tarnished by scandal when details of out-of-sight dealings to finance the home he had brought in Hanover emerged in the media.

At first he admitted he had been economical with the truth while premier of Lower Saxony from 2003-10 in disclosing details of his business dealings. He had failed to mention the fact that the 500,000-euro (652,000-dollar) loan came from friends in the business community.

The media then scrutinized his finances and holidays in the homes of well-heeled friends during his 2003-10 premiership. Wulff also came under fire for offering only gradual admissions and limited apologies as the scandal dragged on.

A bank loan at money-market rates raised questions about his access to merchant terms unavailable to the wider public. Many Germans were troubled by his cosy and seemingly uncritical links with entrepreneurs and reputation for bargain-hunting

The angry voicemails he left with the editor and proprietor of Germany's biggest-selling newspaper, Bild, over media coverage of the loans, proved damaging.

Wulff reportedly said hostile reporting put them 'at war' and threatened to have Bild prosecuted. He later apologized, saying the 'emotional' outburst had been 'a serious mistake.'

When the public prosecutor in Hanover took steps towards opening a formal investigation into corruption, saying there was 'preliminary suspicion' that he 'accepted a benefit,' Wulff appeared to have no choice.

The following day, on February 17, 2012, he announced his resignation, his term the shortest ever served by a German head of state.

Wulff, was plucked from the provincial obscurity of a state premier in 2010 to become the youngest-ever to serve in the largely ceremonial role of president at the age of 51.

Until then he had been known only as a regional Christian Democrat official who sometimes picked fights with the party leader and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

He was also known to have left his wife in 2006 for a woman 14 years his junior.

Wulff has described his early life as difficult: his parents separated when he was two, and his stepfather walked out when Wulff was 14, leaving the teenager to care for an ill mother and sister.

A lawyer until 1994, Wulff went into politics early in life.

As an up-and-coming Christian Democrat, he lost races for the Lower Saxony state premiership twice, against Social Democrat Gerhard Schroeder, who later became German chancellor.

The premiership made Wulff a key figure in Europe's biggest carmaker, Volkswagen, which is the biggest enterprise in the state.

Though Lower Saxony is a minority shareholder, it controls Volkswagen and the premier sits on the board. Wulff led the fight to defeat a takeover bid by carmaker Porsche, and Volkswagen took over Porsche instead.

His frequent disagreements with Merkel were understood at the time as signs he was honing plans to replace her, but he denied having the ambition.

'I lack the absolute desire for power and the readiness to subordinate everything to that,' Wulff said in 2008.

When Merkel nominated him for the presidency, there was surprise, though some commentators said she was in effect disabling him. His appointment by an electoral college on June 30, 2010 was not all plain sailing: it took three ballots to elect him.

Wulff succeeded Horst Koehler, who resigned mid-way through his second term, complaining that he had not received the respect due to his office.

In his presidential duties, Wulff was fiercely criticized by conservatives for standing up for ethnic minorities.

On German Unity Day in 2010, he said: 'Christianity belongs in Germany. Judaism belongs in Germany. And now, Islam also belongs in Germany.'

The later became the defining phrase of his presidency and spawned the counter-motto 'Islam does not belong in Germany.' Wulff later appeared to avoid the topic, but Muslims became some of his keenest supporters.