Konrad Hermann Josef Adenauer (5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman. Prior to World War II, he was an elected official from the Catholic Center Party and a vocal opponent of the Nazis. As a result, he was persecuted by that group following their ascendance under Adolf Hitler. Following the end of World War II, Adenauer's anti-Nazi credentials won him the respect and admiration of the Allies, who supported his establishment of the Christian Democratic Union. Upon the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) as an independent state in 1949, Adenauer became that country's first democratically elected chancellor, serving from 1949 to 1963.