birth_place fields workplaces birth_date image article_title name alma_mater
osnabrück , germany tax law , constitutional law ruprecht karl university of heidelberg 21 february 1943 paul kirchhof.jpg paul kirchhof
 paul kirchhof university of freiburg ludwig maximilian university of munich
paul kirchhof

paul kirchhof -lrb- born february 21 , 1943 in osnabrück -rrb- is a german jurist and tax law expert .
he is also a professor of law , member of the pontifical academy of social sciences and a former judge in the federal constitutional court of germany -lrb- `` bundesverfassungsgericht '' -rrb- , the highest court in germany .
kirchhof obtained a doctorate at the early age of 25 having studied law in freiburg and munich .
he then became director of the institute for tax law -lrb- `` institut für steuerrecht '' -rrb- at the university of münster .
in 1987 he was finally appointed to the federal constitutional court of germany in karlsruhe , where he remained a judge until 1999 .
he then assumed the position of professor at the university of heidelberg school of law .
during the 2005 federal election campaign , angela merkel , leader of the cdu/csu , announced that kirchhof would serve as minister of finance if she formed a government .
kirchhof proposed a graduated income tax rate of 15 , 20 and 25 % .
chancellor gerhard schröder successfully mocked kirchhof during the spd 's campaign , calling him `` that professor from heidelberg '' , implying kirchhof an ivory-towered point of view .
this proposal undermined the cdu 's credibility on economic affairs , and lead many germans to believe that the party 's platform for deregulation would only benefit the rich .
it was a major contribution to the cdu 's drop in the polls , from a lead of 21 % over the spd at the start of the election campaign to 9 % .
merkel 's own popularity dropped 10 % when she publicly endorsed kirchhof 's tax proposals .
although merkel 's popularity improved after she later distanced herself from kirchhof 's proposals , the cdu has not recovered its earlier large lead in the polls .
kirchof attempted to bring the matter to a close before polling day by indicating that he would be remaining in academia and would not accept a position in government .
kirchhof has very conservative opinions on issues such as family and feminism , although these did not become an issue during the campaign .
he has been quoted as saying that `` the mother 's career lies in the family , which does n't produce power , but friendship , not money , but happiness . ''
after election of matteo renzi as prime minister of italy there has been contacts with paul kirchhof .
kirchhof is the older brother of sitting federal constitutional court justice ferdinand kirchhof .
