The former-Labor and Social Affairs Minister Norbert Blüm has died aged 84, his family announced on Friday. Blüm was a close ally of former-Chancellor Helmut Kohl and also served as chairman of the center-right Christian Democratic Union for over a decade.

Blüm took a tough stance on protecting the German pension, opposing fellow CDU lawmakers who wanted to raise the retirement age in Germany from 65 to 70. He is well-known in Germany for his 1986 statement "Die Rente ist sicher" — "Pensions are secure."

During the 1990s, he became known as the German Cabinet's "social conscience." In 1995, he was responsible for introducing Germany's social care insurance scheme, which today helps millions of Germans.

"For me, Norbert Blüm is and was the epitome of the social conscience of our party and of the country," Sebastian Steineke of the CDU tweeted. "We have so much to thank him for. Rest in peace."

A 'social politician'

Blüm is also notable for being the only minister to serve in Kohl's Cabinet for the whole 16 years of his chancellorship, from 1982-1998. This period also saw the reunification of Germany and large social changes in Germany.

In coalition with the SPD, Blüm is also noted for working across party lines.

"Germany is losing one if its most high-profile social politicians in Norbert Blüm," Klaus Ernst of the Left party wrote on Twitter. "In particular, he supported the pay-as-you-go pension from attacks within his own party, but also passionately defended the [center-left] Social Democrats."

Blüm had been ill since 2019 and leaves behind three children and his wife Marita, who he met while studying at the University of Bonn.

ed/sms (AFP, dpa)

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