Marco Wanderwitz
Marco Wanderwitz (born 10 October 1975 in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz)),[1] is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Since 2018, he has been serving as Parliamentary States Secretary in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Marco Wanderwitz | |
---|---|
Parliamentary State Secretary for the New Federal States | |
Assumed office 8 February 2020 | |
Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
Preceded by | Christian Hirte |
Parliamentary State Secretary for Building, Housing and Urban Development | |
In office 14 March 2018 – 8 February 2020 | |
Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
Preceded by | Günter Krings |
Succeeded by | Volkmar Vogel |
Member of the Bundestag for Chemnitzer Umland – Erzgebirgskreis II | |
Assumed office 27 September 2009 | |
Preceded by | Constituency established |
Member of the Bundestag for Chemnitzer Land – Stollberg | |
In office 22 September 2002 – 27 September 2009 | |
Preceded by | Constituency established |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | Karl-Marx-Stadt, East Germany (now Germany) | 10 October 1975
Citizenship | German |
Nationality | Germany |
Political party | CDU |
Alma mater |
Education and early career
After graduating from high school in 1994 Wanderwitz did his military service. In 1995 he completed studies of law at the Technical University of Dresden and afterwards in 2000 completed his studies at the University of Potsdam the first juristic state examination. After the legal clerkship in 2002 he passed the second state examination. Since May 2003 he has been a lawyer in Leipzig.
Political career
Wanderwitz joined the Junge Union in 1990 and the CDU party in 1998. He is a Chairman of the CDU district department in Zwickau and he belongs to the board of the protestant working group in Chemnitz and Chemnitz district. He is a member of the local political association of Chemnitz-Mittweida-Zwickau.
Since 2004 Wanderwitz has been a part of the City Council of the major district town Hohenstein-Ernstthal.
Member of Parliament, 2002–present
Since the 2002 elections, Wanderwitz has been a member of the German Bundestag. Following his term as vice chairman of the Young Group within the CDU/CSU parliamentary group from 2002 until 2005, he later served as the group's chairman from 2005 until 2014.
Wanderwitz always entered the German Bundestag as directly elected deputy. In the 2005 elections he reached 37.5 percent of primary votes. He was also a candidate from CDU party for the federal electoral district of Chemnitz Umland/Erzgebirge District II in 2009, when he reached 41.2% of the primary vote in the general election of the 2009.
In the negotiations to form a Grand Coalition of the Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) and the SPD following the 2013 federal elections, Wanderwitz was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on cultural and media affairs, led by Michael Kretschmer and Klaus Wowereit. From January 2014 he served as chairman of the CDU/CSU working group for culture and media and thereby a speaker of cultural and media policy of this group.[2] He was also a full member of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Consumer Protection.
State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior, 2018–2020
In the fourth government under Chancellor Angela Merkel, Wanderwitz served as Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior under the leadership of Minister Horst Seehofer from 2018 until 2020.
State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs, 2020–present
Following the dismissal of Christian Hirte in 2020, Wanderwitz moved to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy under the leadership of minister Peter Altmaier.
Other activities
Corporate boards
- Sachsenring, Member of the Supervisory Board
- Volksbank Mittweida, Member of the Supervisory Board
Non-profit organizations
- Foundation for the Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace, Ex-Officio Member of the Council (since 2018)[3]
- Deutsche Welle, Member of the Broadcasting Committee
- Federal Cultural Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees[4]
- German Federal Film Board (FFA), Member of the Supervisory Board
- German-Portuguese Society, Member of the Advisory Board
Political positions
In context of the European debt crisis, Wanderwitz emphasized in the interview “Give away your islands” that Greece could privatize islands if the country cannot meet its obligations.[5] In the summer of 2010 he suggested that citizens with unhealthy nutrition should be involved more in the financing of health insurance because this way they would consciously be aware of the cost of funds.[6] In February 2012 he called for higher social security contributions from childless citizens to allow relief for families with children.[7]
In June 2017, Wanderwitz voted against Germany’s introduction of same-sex marriage.[8]
Ahead of the Christian Democrats’ leadership election in 2018, Wanderwitz publicly endorsed Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to succeed Angela Merkel as the party’s chair.[9] In 2019, Wanderwitz joined 14 members of his parliamentary group who, in an open letter, called for the party to rally around Merkel and Kramp-Karrenbauer amid criticism voiced by conservatives Friedrich Merz and Roland Koch.[10]
In 2020, Wanderwitz expressed support for Markus Söder as the Christian Democrats' candidate to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel in the 2021 national elections.[11]
Personal life
Wanderwitz is married and has three children.[1] Since 2018, he has been in a relationship with Yvonne Magwas.[12]
References
- Wanderwitz, Marco (2015). "Marco Wanderwitz - Vita" (in German). Archived from the original on 10 April 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- "Pressemitteilung der CDU/CSU-Bundestagsfraktion" (in German). 13 January 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
- Council Foundation for the Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace.
- Board of Trustees Kulturstiftung des Bundes.
- "Gebt her eure Inseln". derStandard.at (in German). 4 March 2010. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- "Liebe Dicke". Berliner Zeitung (in German). 24 July 2010. p. 4.
- dpa (13 February 2012). "Unions-Politiker planen höhere Abgaben für Kinderlose". Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- Diese Unionsabgeordneten stimmten für die Ehe für alle Die Welt, June 30, 2017.
- Matthias Puppe (December 4, 2018), Umfrage: Wie stimmen Sachsens Delegierte über den CDU-Vorsitz ab? Leipziger Volkszeitung.
- Jens Schneider (October 30, 2019), Machtkampf in der CDU: Abgeordnete nennen parteiinterne Kritik "extrem schädlich" Süddeutsche Zeitung.
- Thomas Vitzthum (December 29, 2020), Der Söder-Faktor zwingt die CDU-Kandidaten zum Strategiewechsel Die Welt.
- Susanne Kiwitter (January 12, 2019), Abgeordnete Yvonne Magwas: "Ich freue mich auf mein Kind" Freie Presse.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marco Wanderwitz. |
- Official website (in German)