Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer was born in Völklingen in 1962 and is Roman-Catholic. She lives in Püttlingen and is married to Helmut Karrenbauer, with whom she has three children. After her Abitur (university entrance qualification) in 1982, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer studied law and political science at the universities of Trier and Saarbrücken, graduating with a Magister Artium in 1990. From 1991 to 1998, she worked as Policy and Planning Officer for the CDU Saar.

She started her political engagement in 1981 when she joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). She subsequently held various political posts at local level in the Saarland. In 1998, she was a member of the German Bundestag and from 1999 to 2018 a member of the Saarland State Parliament. During the first two years of her time as a member of parliament she served as Parliamentary Secretary of the CDU parliamentary group in the Saarland state parliament. From 2000 to 2004, Kramp-Karrenbauer was Minister of the Interior and Sport in the Saarland. She served as the Saarland Minister of the Interior, Family Affairs, Women, and Sport from 2004 to 2007 and as Minister of Education, Women, Family Affairs, and Culture from 2007 to 2009.

After her term as Minister of Labour, Family Affairs, Preventive Action, Social Affairs, and Sport from 2009 to 2011, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer was elected Minister President of the Saarland in 2011. She held this office until 2018. At the same time she was Minister of Justice from 2011 to 2012 and Minister of Science and Research from 2012 to 2018 in her state’s government. Since 2010 Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer has been a member of the Executive Committee of the CDU Germany. She was the Chairwoman of the CDU Saar from 2011 to 2018. She was elected Secretary General of the CDU Germany in February 2018 and Chairwoman in December 2018, serving until 2021. She served as Minister of Defense from 2019 to 2021.