Rita Süssmuth has passed away. With her, Germany loses a public figure who never treated politics as a stage, but as a responsibility towards people, democratic institutions, and the reality of the world we live in.
At a time when political communication is too often mistaken for strategic ambiguity, Rita Süssmuth represents something that has become rare and yet is urgently needed: integrity. Not as a gesture, not as rhetorical volume, but as quiet consistency guided by the common good.
For Süssmuth, integrity meant: making decisions even when they were uncomfortable. Providing clarity instead of feeding fear. Accepting facts even when they did not fit partisan reflexes. Her work as a Federal Minister, especially in social and health policy, was marked by a strong commitment to rationality, human dignity and future-oriented governance.
As President of the German Bundestag during the years of reunification, she embodied a political ethos that feels almost unusual today: respect for democratic institutions, protection of parliamentarianism, and the conviction that democracy does not thrive on outrage, but on responsibility. She did not see parliament as a backdrop for headlines, but as the core of political culture.
In later years, she remained an influential voice for cohesion and long-term governance. As chair of the Independent Commission on Immigration, she helped shape a debate that remains one of the central challenges of our time: How can we manage change in a way that unites rather than divides? Once again, she was not driven by symbolism, but by a clear principle: reality cannot be talked away – but it can be shaped.
This is precisely why Rita Süssmuth is also a key reference figure from the perspective of Bundesvereinigung Nachhaltigkeit e. V. (BVNG). Sustainability is more than environmental policy. Sustainability means: thinking long-term, taking responsibility, and defending the interests of the future against the comfort of the present.
At BVNG, we express our mission in one sentence:
“We shape systems for a future-ready society.”
This mission is also a response to the current crisis of trust in political institutions. Future-readiness does not emerge from good ideas alone – it requires stable, learning-capable systems that can carry transformation across sectors: education, business, administration, labour markets, and democratic culture.
Rita Süssmuth demonstrated what this looks like in political responsibility: strengthening systems instead of weakening them; evaluating decisions not by the next media cycle, but by their impact on people – and on future generations.
Today, many citizens perceive politics as tactical, opportunistic, or detached. Trust erodes when people feel that values have become negotiable. Rita Süssmuth stood for the opposite: a political leader who showed that progress is not created by volume, but by consistency.
Her legacy is therefore not merely historical – it is profoundly relevant:
Integrity is a prerequisite for sustainable policy. Anyone serious about transformation must be willing to withstand resistance, explain complexity, and take decisions whose benefits will only become visible later.
We honour Rita Süssmuth – and a political attitude that reminds us what democracy and responsibility can mean when taken seriously.
Bundesvereinigung Nachhaltigkeit e. V.
