[2] Biedenkopf worked on advisory boards of institutions including the Bertelsmann Stiftung, Deutsche Nationalstiftung, Dresden Frauenkirche, Independent Commission on Turkey and the Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen.

He entered his professional political career when he became secretary general of the CDU in 1973, under the leadership of chairman Helmut Kohl.

[13][14] In the 1980, state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, Biedenkopf unsuccessfully ran against the incumbent Minister-President Johannes Rau.

He served as chairman of the CDU in North Rhine-Westphalia – the party's largest chapter – until 1987, when he was succeeded by Norbert Blüm.

In late 1989, he joined forces with Lothar Späth, Heiner Geißler, Rita Süssmuth and others in an unsuccessful effort to oust Kohl as CDU chairman.

[16] Early in his tenure, Biedenkopf emerged as a kind of unofficial spokesman for the regions of East Germany.

[18] During his time in office, he doubled outlays on primary and secondary education and sharply ramped up spending on research and development.

[20] Ahead of the German presidential election in 1994, Biedenkopf was widely seen as a likely candidate, but the post went to Roman Herzog.

In this capacity, he oversaw the body's move to Berlin to complete the government's return to the pre-World War II capital from Bonn.

"[28] Already in 1997, he had joined the minister-presidents of two other German states, Gerhard Schröder and Edmund Stoiber, in making the case for a five-year delay in Europe's currency union.

[29] Ahead of the Christian Democrats' leadership election in 2018, Biedenkopf publicly endorsed Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to succeed Angela Merkel as the party's chair.