Роланд Кох: Германиялық саясаткер және құқықтанушының өмірбаяны

German jurist and politician
the German football coach

Roland Koch (born 24 March 1958) is a German jurist and former conservative politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was the 7th Minister President of Hesse from 7 April 1999, immediately becoming the 53rd President of the Bundesrat, completing the term begun by his predecessor as Minister President, Hans Eichel, until his resignation on 31 August 2010. During his time in office, Koch was widely regarded as one of Chancellor Angela Merkel's main rivals within the CDU.

Koch was born in Frankfurt am Main. He studied law and graduated in 1985. In 1979, Koch became the youngest person to hold the office of chairman of the CDU in Main Taunus district.

From 1983 until 1987 he was vice chair of the federal youth organization of the CDU. In 1987 Koch was elected to the legislature of Hessen. From 1989 until 1997 he was also a member of the Main Taunus district council and parliamentary leader of the local CDU group. In 1991 he became vice chair of the CDU parliamentary group, and in 1993 its chair. Until then Koch had been a city council member in his hometown of Eschborn. From 1998 onward, he was chair of the Hessian CDU.

Koch was seen as a rhetorically gifted politician; critics have accused him of populism. A sometimes polarizing figure on his party's right, Koch proved to be one of the main defenders of business and financial interests within his party. In 2010, Koch and Merkel clashed over budget cuts, as Koch proposed cutbacks in education and research that Merkel opposed. He also suggested that a law passed to provide a guaranteed child care facilities for children under 3 would have to be reconsidered. In his final years as Minister President, he largely worked smoothly with Merkel. Ahead of the Christian Democrats’ leadership election in 2018, Koch publicly endorsed Friedrich Merz to succeed Angela Merkel as the party's chair. On foreign policy, Koch forged a friendship with the Dalai Lama and supported the self determination of Tibet.

In February 2018, Bilfinger announced it would sue Koch and other former executives of the company for at least 100 million euros ($123 million) in damages for alleged breaches of duty in compliance and mergers.

His father Karl Heinz Koch was a politician in Hessen. Koch and his wife Anke have two sons. He is a Roman Catholic.