Christian Hirte

Christian Hirte (born 23 May 1976) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as member of the German Bundestag since 2008. Since 2020, he has been the chairman of CDU in Thuringia.[1]

Christian Hirte
Member of the Bundestag
for Thuringia
Assumed office
15 May 2008
Parliamentary Secretary of State in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
In office
2018–2020
Commissioner of the Federal Government for the New States
In office
2018–2020
Personal details
Born (1976-05-23) 23 May 1976
Bad Salzungen, East Germany
(now Germany)
Political partyChristian Democratic Union
EducationUniversity of Jena
WebsiteOfficial website

From 2018 to 2020, Hirte served as Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and additionally as commissioner of the federal government for the new states in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel.[2]

Education and early career

Hirte studied law at the University of Jena with a scholarship from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and passed the first state examination in 2001 and the second in 2003. In 2004 he became an associate in the law firm Dr. Muth & Partner in Fulda, and specialized in tax law.[3]

Political career

Hirte joined the centre-right Junge Union in 1993 and the CDU in 1995.

Hirte has been a member of the Bundestag since 2008. In parliament, he has served on the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (2008-2013), the Committee on Tourism (2009-2013), the Budget Committee (2013-2017) and the Audit Committee (2013-2017). On the Budget Committee, he was his parliamentary group's rapporteur on the annual budget of the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

In the negotiations to form a coalition government under the leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, Hirte was part of the CDU delegation.[4] Following the formation of the government, he became Parliamentary State Secretary under the leadership of minister Peter Altmaier. As federal commissioner for the new states, he advocated increased focus on rehabilitating and compensating victims of the East German Communist Party.[5]

Thuringia affair

Hirte was removed from his office as Parliamentary State Secretary and commissioner for the new states after he posted a congratulatory message on Twitter to FDP politician Thomas Kemmerich for his election as Minister-President in Hirte's home state of Thuringia. Kemmerich had been elected with the votes of the CDU, the FDP and the AfD, marking the first time a Minister-President has been elected with the votes of the AfD. Due to AfD's involvement, the election was widely condemned, including by Chancellor Merkel and CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.[6] Hirte's dismissal was condemned by the Values Union, a faction within CDU, which defended him and accused Merkel of silencing party critics.[7]

Other activities

Corporate boards
  • Klinikum Bad Salzungen, Member of the Supervisory Board

Non-profit organizations

Political positions

In June 2017, Hirte voted against Germany’s introduction of same-sex marriage.[9]

Ahead of the Christian Democrats’ leadership election, Hirte expressed support for a candidacy of Ralph Brinkhaus.[10]

Personal life

Hirte is Catholic, married and has three children.[11]

References
  1. Stefan Locke (September 19, 2020), Wie Thüringens schwer gebeutelte CDU den Neustart versucht Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
  2. Christian Hirte, Bundestag.de
  3. Dr. Muth & Partner
  4. Members of the Coalition Talks with CSU and SPD CDU.
  5. Ost-Beauftragter SED-Opfern soll besser geholfen werden
  6. Germany AfD: Merkel fires minister over far right row BBC News, February 8, 2020.
  7. Ostbeauftragter Hirte gibt Posten auf Druck von Merkel ab, Die Welt
  8. Board Gegen Vergessen – Für Demokratie.
  9. Diese Unionsabgeordneten stimmten für die Ehe für alle Die Welt, June 30, 2017.
  10. Timo Lehmann (November 11, 2020), Machtkampf in der Union: Thüringer CDU-Chef bringt Brinkhaus für Bundesvorsitz ins Spiel Der Spiegel.
  11. christian-hirte.de


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