“I was deeply saddened to hear of the death of Hildegard Hamm-Brücher. We have lost one of the first women to champion democracy and civil liberties at the Federal Foreign Office and far beyond.

After shouldering political responsibility for many years, first in Hesse and then at federal level, Hildegard Hamm-Brücher was Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office from December 1976 to September 1982.

It is with great gratitude that I look back on her great personal commitment to Germany’s foreign policy over many years.

In the Bundestag, Hildegard Hamm-Brücher spoke out for freedom, democracy and the rule of law. Her political courage and her tireless engagement made her a shining example.

Hildegard Hamm-Brücher also played a major role in shaping our society through the work she did in an honorary capacity. Active in the Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag, in the Munich Jewish Centre, in the Association for Democratic Action, in Human Rights Watch and the Goethe-Institut, she called for understanding and reconciliation and was the recipient of key awards.

Hildegard Hamm-Brücher's legacy, namely the Theodor Heuss Foundation, established at her initiative, the Hildegard Hamm-Brücher Prize for Learning and Living Democracy and the Munich Civic Award against Oblivion – for Democracy on remembering the National Socialist regime and on strengthening democracy, is an enduring appeal to us to take on responsibility within our society.

Hildegard Hamm-Brücher will remain a role model for us!”