referendum at this time. It would be "unfair" and an "attempted escape from welfare state responsibility". Personal life Blüm married Marita Blüm (née Binger) in 1964. The couple had three children, a son and two daughters. Blüm was a practising Roman Catholic. After blood poisoning in 2019, Blüm became paralysed in his arms and legs. He commented in a guest article for the German weekly Die Zeit in March 2020 about his new life in a wheelchair due to his paralysis, in which he compared his position to that of a puppet whose strings were pulled so that its parts dangled incoherently in the air: "Like a thief in the night, disaster broke into my life in the form of insidious blood poisoning". Blüm died in Bonn on 23 April 2020. Other activities Member of the Advisory Board of the Hans Böckler Prize of the City of Cologne Green Helmets, Member of the Board of Trustees Bonn Minster, Member of the Board of Trustees St. Maria zur Wiese, Member of the Board of Trustees IG Metall, Member (since 1949) Awards 2000: Münchhausen Prize 2001: Leipzig Human Rights Award 2005: Leopold Kunschak Prize Notes References External links The 2001 Leipzig Human Rights Award, video coverage of the event at Xenu TV, 9 June 2001 Kabinettsprotokolle Online "Blüm, Norbert" (in German) bundesarchiv.de 1935 births 2020 deaths People from Rüsselsheim Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians People from the People's State of Hesse Labor ministers (Germany) Social Affairs ministers of Germany Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Bundestag 1998–2002 Members of the Bundestag 1994–1998 Members of the Bundestag 1990–1994 Members of the Bundestag 1987–1990 Members of the Bundestag 1983–1987 Members of the Bundestag 1980–1983 Members of the Bundestag 1976–1980 Members of the Bundestag 1972–1976 Members of the Bundestag for Rhineland-Palatinate Senators of Berlin University of Bonn alumni Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany