Editing Konrad Adenauer (section)

=== Late years ===
Adenauer, who resigned as Chancellor at the age of 87 and remained head of the governing CDU until his retirement at 90, was often dubbed "Der Alte" ("the old one"). He also remained a Member of the [[Bundestag]] for the constituency of Bonn until his death.

In May 1966, the former Chancellor made a private visit to the new state of [[Israel]] and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the [[Weizmann Institute of Science|Weizmann Institute]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Israel und Judentum|website=Konrad-Adenauer.de|url=https://www.konrad-adenauer.de/politikfelder/seite/israel-und-judentum/|language=de|access-date=23 October 2023|archive-date=23 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023140942/https://www.konrad-adenauer.de/politikfelder/seite/israel-und-judentum/|url-status=live}}</ref> The friendship with [[France]] was particularly close to the ex-Chancellor's heart: he visited the neighbouring country three times in 1964, 1966 and 1967.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Rudolf Morsey|author2=Hans-Peter Schwarz|title=Adenauer – Die letzten Lebensjahre 1963–1967|year=2009|publisher=[[Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh]] |location=Munich; Vienna; Zurich|isbn=978-3-657-76776-2|url=https://doi.org/10.30965/9783657767762|language=de|doi=10.30965/9783657767762}}</ref> On his last trip abroad in February 1967, Adenauer met with [[Francisco Franco|General Franco]] and, as the art lover he had been all his life, took advantage of the stay to visit the [[Museo del Prado|Prado]]. His last major speech in Madrid's Ateneo Palace was marked by the admonition not to let up, to continue the process of [[European Federation|European unification]].<ref>On his last trip abroad in February 1967, Adenauer met with General Franco and, as the art lover he had been all his life, took advantage of the stay to visit the Prado. His last major speech in Madrid's Ateneo Palace was marked by the admonition not to let up, to continue the process of European unification.</ref>

As of 2021, Adenauer remains the oldest-ever European head of government and one of the oldest elected European statesmen (paralleled only by [[Sandro Pertini]] and [[Giorgio Napolitano]]); however, the governments of Tunisia and Malaysia had older heads of government during the 2010s.{{efn|E.g. [[Beji Caid Essebsi]] was Tunisian president (2014–2019) from age 88 to 92, and Malaysian prime minister [[Mahathir Mohamad]] (2018–2020) was in office aged 92 to 94; Italian president [[Giorgio Napolitano]] who turned 88 in 2013 and remained in office until 2015, age 89, was merely a titular leader and did ''not'' run the government of Italy).}}