Harry Blum was a German politician and member of the CDU

Christian Democratic Union (Germany)

The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...

. On 1. October 1999 he became the first directly elected mayor of Cologne, but he only held that office for six months when he died suddenly in March 2000.

Harry Blum was born Johannes Jacob Blum into an Old Colognian family, but the family was evacuated during the war. He received his Abitur

Abitur

Abitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...

 at Dreikönigsgymnasium

Dreikönigsgymnasium

The Dreikönigsgymnasium is a regular public Gymnasium located in Cologne, Germany. Founded in 1450 it is the oldest school in Cologne and one of the oldest in Germany.-Alumni:...

 and studied law at the University of Cologne

University of Cologne

The University of Cologne is one of the oldest universities in Europe and, with over 44,000 students, one of the largest universities in Germany. The university is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, an association of Germany's leading research universities...

. Blum joined the Christian Democratic Union in 1964 and was a member of the city council

Cologne City Hall

The City Hall is a historical building in Cologne, western Germany, located off Hohe Straße in the district of Innenstadt, set between the two squares of Rathausplatz and Alter Markt. It houses part of the city government, including the city council and offices of the Lord Mayor. It is...

 since 1984. Shortly before his election as mayor he adopted his long-time nickname as official first name and was henceforth Harry Johannes Jacob Blum. As one of his initiatives as councillor and mayor was the implementation of an architectural lighting

Architectural lighting design

Architectural lighting design is a field within architecture and architectural engineering that concerns itself primarily with the illumination of buildings. The objective of architectural lighting design is to obtain sufficient light for the purposes of the building, balancing factors of initial...

concept for the city, which helped the city win the city.people.light award 2005.