# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/horst-kohler
# Generated: 2026-09-07T20:35:04.609Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/horst-kohler"
name: "Horst Köhler"
slug: "horst-kohler"
description: "A president who walked away. Köhler resigned Germany's largely ceremonial top office barely a year into his second term—over a single remark about troops in Afghanistan—ending a tenure marked by approval ratings that outpaced two chancellors."
tagline: "German politician (CDU); president of Germany, 2004–2010"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Horst_K%C3%B6hler.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "Germany"
  isoCode: "DE"
category:
  name: "Politicians"
  slug: "politicians"
profileType:
  name: "Politician"
  slug: "politician"
birthDate: "1943-02-22"
deathDate: "2025-02-01"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           65.96
  momentum:             1.781791994238732
  historical:           24.706752
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     65
  profileCompleteness:  75
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Politicians"
    slug: "politicians"
  - name: "Politician"
    slug: "politician"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "Economics"
    slug: "economics"
  - name: "Germany"
    slug: "germany"
  - name: "Europe"
    slug: "europe"
  - name: "20th Century"
    slug: "20th-century"
platforms:
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1697777/"
    handle:    "nm1697777"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2542"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Horst%20K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%87%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%AA_%D9%83%D9%88%D9%84%D8%B1"
    title: "هورست كولر"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%87%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%AA_%D9%83%D9%88%D9%84%D8%B1"
    title: "هورست كولر"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Horst Köhler"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6ler"
    title: "Horst Köler"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be_x_old.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%93%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%81%D1%82_%D0%9A%D1%91%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%80"
    title: "Горст Кёлер"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A5%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%81%D1%82_%D0%9A%D1%91%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%80"
    title: "Хорст Кёлер"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A5%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%81%D1%82_%D0%9A%D1%8C%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%80"
    title: "Хорст Кьолер"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Horst Köhler"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Horst Köhler"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cbk_zam.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Horst Köhler"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Horst Köhler"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Horst Köhler"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A7%CE%BF%CF%81%CF%83%CF%84_%CE%9A%CE%AD%CE%BB%CE%B5%CF%81"
    title: "Χορστ Κέλερ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Horst Köhler"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Horst Köhler"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Horst Köhler"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Horst Köhler"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%87%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%AA_%DA%A9%D9%88%D9%87%D9%84%D8%B1"
    title: "هورست کوهلر"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Horst Köhler"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://frr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Horst Köhler"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Horst Köhler"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikiquote.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://de.wikiquote.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://he.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D7%94%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%A1%D7%98_%D7%A7%D7%9C%D7%A8"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://pl.wikiquote.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_K%C3%B6hler"
    title: "Horst Köhler"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Horst Köhler came up as an economist, moving through the civil service into banking's highest tiers: president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in 1998, then head of the IMF in 2000. Four years later the Christian Democrats and the FDP put him forward for Germany's presidency, and the Federal Convention elected him in May 2004. He was inaugurated that July into an office of ceremony, not command—yet became more popular than either Gerhard Schröder or Angela Merkel during those years. Reelected in 2009, he lasted only until May 2010, when controversy over a comment he made during a visit to German forces in Afghanistan prompted his resignation. He surfaced again briefly in 2012 on a UN panel shaping the post-2015 development agenda, then stepped back for good. He died in February 2025.