Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is CDU chair, minister and possible candidate for chancellor. Here you can find out more about your career and your private life.
- Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has been the CDU chairwoman since 2018.
- A few months later, she was appointed Federal Minister of Defense.
- In surveys, however, it was partly assessed as a burden for the CDU.
Berlin - On February 10, 2020 Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announced that she did not want to run for the Union as candidate for chancellor. She also wanted to forego the CDU party chairmanship. Her sudden resignation follows a difficult term as CDU chairwoman, which lasted only 14 months.
At the end of 2018, the CDU party conference in Hamburg made the decision that finally made Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer a candidate for the chancellor's candidacy. Secretary General " AKK " reached for the CDU chairmanship and succeeded Angela Merkel in this position. The event was not a pure march, the party was by no means in agreement. Kramp-Karrenbauer had to run for the run-off with Friedrich Merz after there was no absolute majority for one of the candidates in the first ballot.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer called on her party for more courage and self-confidence at the party conference on December 7, 2018. The former Saarland Prime Minister said in her application speech before the CDU party conference in Hamburg that the CDU should not run after black painters, but must also courageously stay on course against the zeitgeist.
At that time she was still the CDU general secretary . She was elected to this position less than a year earlier in February 2018. Your career in the Union started much earlier, of course. In the following you will learn more about the career of the top politician.
. @ akk at #AnneWill in the discussion about the direction of the #CDU: pic.twitter.com/2QsZ6FNNz7
- ANNE WILL talk show (@AnneWillTalk) June 23, 2019Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer's CV outside of politics
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer was born in Völklingen , Saarland, and grew up in Püttlingen with five siblings. Her father was a teacher and her mother a housewife. From 1986 to 1990 she studied political science and law in Trier and Saarbrücken .
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has three children with her husband
She married her husband , mining engineer Helmut Karrenbauer , in 1984. The two have two sons and a daughter. While she was pursuing a career in politics, her husband gave up his job and took care of the household and the children. All three children are of legal age. The family lives in Kramp-Karrenbauer's home in Püttlingen.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer with her husband Helmut Karrenbauer.
© picture alliance / Arne Dedert / d / dpa Picture-Alliance / Arne Dedert
Not much is known about the CDU general secretary. She doesn't show anything private on her social media channels. In an interview with the “ Welt” , however, she revealed: “My hobbies are sports, dancing and listening to music. I'm also a bookworm. ”
Political curriculum vitae: Kramp-Karrenbauer came to the CDU early on
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer joined the CDU in 1981 while still at school. From 1985-1988 she was a member of the board of the Junge Union in Saarland . On March 1, 1998 she moved to the Bundestag for Klaus Töpfer, but left the Bundestag at the end of October of the same year.
In 1999 she moved into the Saarland State Parliament for the first time, of which she was a member until 2018. During this time, she held many offices. In her first year she was the parliamentary manager of her parliamentary group. From 2000 to 2004 she was Minister of the Interior and Sports in Saarland . In the next legislative period, she was Minister of the Interior, Family, Women and Sport . Since 2007 she has led the Ministry of Education, Family, Women and Culture . After the retirement of her political foster father Peter Müller from the office of prime minister and CDU state president, she took over both positions in 2011. The Jamaica coalition she headed did not last long, however, and disintegrated in 2012.
In the new elections, the CDU emerged as the strongest party and, under Kramp-Karrenbauer's leadership, formed a grand coalition with the SPD . She held her position as Prime Minister in Saarland until 2018 and finally switched to federal politics. “AKK” was elected CDU general secretary with 98.87 percent of the vote. That was the best result ever in the election of the CDU general secretary.
Elected CDU chairman: AKK becomes Merkel's successor
AKK ultimately emerged less strongly from her election as party leader . It was only in the runoff that it was able to prevail against the competition within the party. Against her last opponent Friedrich Merz , she only got a narrow lead of 51.75 percent of the vote. Nevertheless, a year later before the next CDU party conference in 2019, Merz emphasized that there was no reason for personnel discussions.
In 2018, Kramp-Karrenbauer's speech was repeatedly interrupted by strong applause. The 56-year-old received particularly large applause when, against the background of the subsequent fight vote for the party presidency with a view to Friedrich Merz and Jens Spahn, she said that none of the three candidates "would be the downfall for this party". For them there is no conservative, liberal or business-friendly CDU, but only “the one CDU”, which for many is a kind of family.
Paul Ziemiak took over the position of General Secretary, who was freed by Kramp-Karrenbauer's leap to the top of the party.
The next career step: Federal Minister of Defense
Another personnel rally in the CDU led Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to her next post within a few months. Since Ursula von der Leyen was shortly nominated as President of the European Commission , there was suddenly a ministry in the federal government without a management. Angela Merkel made the CDU leader the successor of the Leyens in July 2019. AKK has been the Federal Minister of Defense ever since.
Defense Minister @akk has landed in Gao. Safety precautions significantly increased on the last stop of their trip to Mali and Niger. #minusma #UN #Bundeswehr pic.twitter.com/FfvmDYQ8QV
- Martin Schmidt (@SchmidtLev) October 8, 2019What topics does Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer stand for?
Kramp-Karrenbauer is known for her pragmatic style, which is why she is rarely found in the headlines. She is considered a follower of Merkel and her liberal positions. She supported Merkel's refugee policy.
From a socio-political point of view, it is more conservative. Kramp-Karrenbauer requires one year of service in the Bundeswehr or in the social sector. She also expressed skepticism about marriage for everyone and questions dual citizenship for Turkish people living in Germany. From a socio-political perspective, however, it is seen as more left-wing.
Chancellor candidacy: "AKK" announces sudden resignation
The CDU general secretary officially entered the Saarland CDU in 2018 in the race to succeed Angela Merkel as CDU federal chairwoman. She was Merkel's preferred candidate. On February 10, 2020 Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announced her resignation from the chancellor candidacy. She also wants to give up her CDU chairmanship in the foreseeable future.
When she left the CDU, it was said that she wanted to "organize the process for candidacy for the chancellor in the summer, prepare the party for the future and then give up the party chair". Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer justified her resignation, among other things, with the incidents of the election of the prime minister in Thuringia, in which there was “an unexplained relationship between parts of the CDU with the AfD and the left”.
Her tenure was mixed and was characterized by electoral slumps, polling bankruptcies and critical statements. The debacle surrounding the election of the prime minister in Thuringia was perceived as a significant loss of authority for Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.
List of rubric lists: © dpa / Kay Nietfeld