Elisabeth Motschmann

Baroness Elisabeth Charlotte Motschmann (née von Düsterlohe; born 13 October 1952) is a German journalist and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since 2013. In parliament, she is her party's spokeswoman on media policy spokeswoman. Throughout her career, Motschmann has focused on women's issues and children's rights. She opposes abortion, supports the ordination of women in Christian churches, and has advocated for establishing a legally regulated quota for women in leadership in the corporate sector in response to women's economic inequality and the gender-gap in chief executive positions in German companies.

Elisabeth Motschmann
Motschmann in 2014
Full name
Elisabeth Charlotte Motschmann
BornElisabeth Charlotte Freiin von Düsterlohe
(1952-10-13) 13 October 1952
Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein
Germany
Noble familyDüsterlohe
Spouse(s)Jens Motschmann
Issue
Franziska Motschmann
Johannes Motschmann
Georg Motschmann
FatherBaron Friedrich-Karl von Düsterlohe
MotherRenate Cramer
Occupationpolitician

Early life and journalism

Motschmann was born Baroness Elisabeth Charlotte von Düsterlohe on 13 October 1952 in Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein. A member of a German noble family, she is the second of three children of Renate Cramer and Baron Friedrich-Karl von Düsterlohe. Motschmann graduated from school in 1971 and, from 1972 to 1975, studied theology and romance languages at the University of Hamburg and the University of Kiel.

Motschmann worked as a freelance journalist and publicist until 1993, focusing on family and women's issues, child poverty, and reporting on third world countries.[1] From 1986 to 1991 she was a freelancer at Norddeutscher Rundfunk and from 1986 until 1993 she worked for the Axel Springer.

Political career

Career in state politics

Motschmann became a member of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany in the 1970s and was a member of the party's district board of Steinburg and Itzehoe. From 1977 to 1981 she served as the deputy state chairwoman of the Women's Union in Schleswig-Holstein and as a member of the state board of Schleswig-Holstein until 1987. After moving to Bremen she became the deputy chair of the Christian Democratic Union there from 1990 to 2006.[1] In 1990 she became a member of the state council for sports and culture. In 1998 Motschmann joined the anti-abortion campaign Tim Leben! with the Yes to Life Foundation as a member of the board of trustees, working alongside Countess Johanna von Westphalen, Gloria, Princess of Thurn and Taxis, Prince Nikolaus von Lobkowicz, and Roland Rösler. [2] In 2006 she became the chairwoman of the state committee of the party in Bremen.

From 2012 until 2021, Motschmann was a member of the federal executive board of the Christian Democratic Union under the leadership of successive chairwomen Angela Merkel (2012–2018) and Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (2018–2021).[3][4]

Member of the German Parliament, 2013–present

In March 2013 Motschmann was elected as a top candidate of the Christian Democratic Union in Bremen for the election of the 18th Bundestag, representing Bremen I. In 2015 she was the party's top candidate for the Bremen elections. In March 2017 she was re-elected as a member of the Bundestag.[5] In 2019 she became a member of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly.[6] She serves as the media policy spokesperson for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.[7]

In addition to her committee assignments, Motschmann has been a member of the German delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe since 2018.[8] In the Assembly, she serves on the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media; the Sub-Committee on Culture, Diversity and Heritage; the Sub-Committee on Disability, Multiple and Intersectional Discrimination; and the Sub-Committee on the Rights of Minorities (2018-2020).[9]

In the negotiations to form the fourth coalition government under the leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, Motschmann was part of the working group on cultural affairs and media, led by Monika Grütters, Dorothee Bär and Michael Roth.

Other activities

Political positions

Since 2009 Motschmann has advocated for women's right to participate in the Schaffermahlzeit, an annual captain's banquet at Bremen City Hall which has historically excluded women. In 2015, for the first time, female guests were invited to the 471st Schaffermahlzeit. She has also advocated for more women on supervisory boards of companies in Germany and for a legally regulated quota for women in leadership positions in the corporate sector.[11]

In June 2017, Motschmann voted against Germany's introduction of same-sex marriage.[12]

In September 2020, Motschmann was one of 15 members of her parliamentary group who joined Norbert Röttgen in writing an open letter to Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer which called on Germany and other EU counties to take in 5000 immigrants who were left without shelter after fires gutted the overcrowded Mória Reception and Identification Centre on the Greek island of Lesbos.[13]

Ahead of the Christian Democrats’ leadership election in 2021, Motschmann publicly endorsed Röttgen to succeed Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as the party’s chair.[14]

Personal life

Motschmann married Jens Motschmann, a Lutheran theologian, in 1971. They have three children. She moved to Bremen in 1987 after her husband was hired as a minister at Saint Martin's Church.[1] She is a practicing Lutheran and member of the Evangelical Church of Germany. She supports the ordination of women.[15]

References
  1. "Deutscher Bundestag - Motschmann, Elisabeth". Deutscher Bundestag.
  2. "Stiftung Ja zum Leben". web.archive.org. April 12, 2013.
  3. "www.motschmann.net » Vita". web.archive.org. February 2, 2018.
  4. Bremer JU-Chefin im Bundesvorstand Winter (24) löst Motschmann (68) ab Bild, January 18, 2021.
  5. "Elisabeth Motschmann". CDU/CSU-Fraktion.
  6. "Deutscher Bundestag - Motschmann, Elisabeth". web.archive.org. April 27, 2017.
  7. "Medienpolitische SprecherInnen der Fraktionen im Deutschen Bundestag – Institut für Medien- und Kommunikationspolitik".
  8. Elisabeth Motschmann Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
  9. Elisabeth Motschmann Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
  10. Members of the Broadcasting Council Deutsche Welle.
  11. "Bremer CDU-Kandidatin: Ausbruch aus der Welt der Rüschenblusen" – via www.faz.net.
  12. Diese Unionsabgeordneten stimmten für die Ehe für alle Die Welt, June 30, 2017.
  13. Offener Brief an Seehofer: Röttgen fordert Aufnahme von 5000 Migranten aus Moria Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, September 10, 2020.
  14. CDU-Machtkampf: Röttgen macht Ellen Demuth zur »Nummer zwei« Der Spiegel, December 3, 2020.
  15. "www.motschmann.net » taz bremen 23. juni 2008". web.archive.org. October 17, 2013.
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