Winfried Kretschmann
Winfried Kretschmann | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Assumed office 12 May 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Deputy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Stefan Mappus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
President of the Bundesrat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 1 November 2012 – 31 October 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
First Vice President | Horst Seehofer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Horst Seehofer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Stephan Weil | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Spaichingen, Württemberg-Hohenzollern, French occupation zone, Allied-occupied Germany (now Baden-Württemberg, Germany) | 17 May 1948||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Alliance 90/The Greens (1979–) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other political affiliations | Communist League of West Germany (1973–1975) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse(s) |
Gerlinde Kretschmann, née Kienle
(m. 1975) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | University of Hohenheim | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation |
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Website | www.winfried-kretschmann.de | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Military service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Allegiance | Germany | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Branch/service | Bundeswehr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years of service | 1968–1970 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Winfried Kretschmann (born 17 May 1948) is a German politician serving as
Kretschmann has been a member of the state parliament, the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg, since 1980, in the constituency of Nürtingen. In 2006 he was the frontrunner in the Baden-Württemberg state election for his party, as he was in the state election on 27 March 2011. He was also the chairman of his party's parliamentary group.[1]
Following the state election of 2011,[2] Kretschmann was elected on 12 May 2011 by the combined Green-SPD majority in the Landtag to succeed Stefan Mappus as Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg, becoming the first ever Green Minister-President of any German state. Kretschmann has wide personal popularity; if it were possible to elect the Minister-President directly during the Baden-Württemberg election of March 2016, Kretschmann would have won an outright majority according to polls; he was even favored by 45% of CDU supporters.[3] Kretschmann was re-elected in May 2016 as Minister-President while leading a new coalition with the Christian Democrats.[4]
On 12 October 2012 he was elected President of the German Bundesrat for the term from 1 November 2012 to 31 October 2013.[5] This was the first time since 1953, and only the second time ever, that the President was not drawn from the ranks of either the CDU/CSU or the SPD, until November 1, 2021, when Bodo Ramelow of The Left was elected president of the Bundesrat.
Early life and education
Kretschmann was born at
Political career
Early beginnings
From 1973 to 1975 Kretschmann was active in the
After three years as a school teacher at Sigmaringen, Kretschmann went into politics. He is one of the founding members of the Baden-Württemberg section of the German Green Party (at Sindelfingen on 30 September 1979).
In 1980, Kretschmann was for the first time elected into the Landtag, the state parliament, and a first stint of his chairmanship of his party's parliamentary group followed from 1983 to 1985. In 1985 he left Stuttgart to work in
In 1988, Kretschmann returned to Baden-Württemberg, being re-elected into the Landtag in 1988. He lost his seat in 1992, but returned – after four years back as a teacher – in 1996 and held his seat in 2001 and 2006. In 2002, he was again elected chairman of his party's parliamentary group.[8]
Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg, 2011–present
In the
As Minister-President, Kretschmann is a member of the German-French Friendship Group set up by the
When German Chancellor Angela Merkel held preliminary talks to sound out possible common ground with both the Green Party in an attempt to form a coalition government following the 2013 elections, Kretschmann was part of the Greens’ delegation.[13]
In the
In July 2020, Kretschmann-led government of Baden-Württemberg banned full-face coverings burqas, niqabs for all school children. The rule will apply to primary and secondary education. Kretschmann said that full-face veiling did not belong in a free society.[17][18]
Following the ongoing success of the Greens in the 2021 state elections, Kretschmann was subsequently re-elected for serving a third term as minister president on May 12, 2021.[19]
Political positions
Kretschmann belongs to the more
When Bavaria filed a lawsuit in the Federal Constitutional Court in 2012, asking the judges to back their call for an overhaul of the German system of financial transfers from wealthier states (such as Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg) to the country's weaker economies, Kretschmann decided that his state would not back the lawsuit and instead urged reform via negotiations between all the states.[23]
Kretschmann has in the past been vocal about climate change policies. In May 2015, he joined
Kretschmann stated that he wants to keep refugees who commit crimes in groups away from major cities and distribute them in the country, saying that the idea of sending some of them "into the pampas" was "not wrong", and adding, "To put it bluntly, the most dangerous thing that human evolution has produced is hordes of young men." He claimed that the 2018 Freiburg gang rape was a "terrible example" of this.[26]
Other activities
- Central Committee of German Catholics, Member
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Freiburg, Member of the Council
- Academy of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, Member of the Board of Trustees[27]
- Deutsches Museum, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Trustees
Honours
- 2023 Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany[28]
Personal life
Kretschmann is a
Literature
- Henkel, Peter; Henkel-Waidhofer, Johanna (2011). Winfried Kretschmann (in German). Freiburg Basel Wien: Herder. ISBN 978-3-451-33255-5.[29]
- Kretschmann, Winfried; Henkel-Waidhofer, Johanna; Henkel, Peter (2012). Reiner Wein (in German). Freiburg Basel Wien: Herder. ISBN 978-3-451-33269-2.
See also
References
- ^ "Winfried Kretschmann, Fraktionschef der Grünen im baden-württembergischen Landtag". Südwestrundfunk. 20 November 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
- ^ "Germany: Greens celebrate Merkel election defeat". BBC News. 28 March 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
- ^ "Landtagswahlen: Grüne liegen in Baden-Württemberg vor CDU". 3 March 2016 – via Die Zeit.
- ^ a b "Baden-Württemberg debuts Green-led coalition with Merkel's conservative party – News – DW – 02.05.2016". DW.COM.
- Bundesrat of Germany. 12 October 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
- ^ "Landtagswahl Baden-Württemberg: Erst war er im katholischen Internat, dann im Kommunistischen Bund". 24 March 2011 – via Die Zeit.
- ^ Biography at Munzinger.de
- ^ "Winfried Kretschmann personal website".
- ^ a b c Stefan Nicola (August 23, 2013), Porsche Home’s Green Car Reversal Opens Road to Merkel Bloomberg News.
- ^ "First Green State Governor 'I Want a Quiet Revolution'". Spiegel Online. May 19, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
- ^ Jack Ewing (April 1, 2011), Germany's Greens Prepare for Power, and Major Tests International Herald Tribune.
- Spiegel Online, October 21, 2010.
- Spiegel Online.
- ^ Philip Oltermann (March 14, 2016), German elections: the candidates who backed Merkel's refugee stance – and won The Guardian.
- ^ Greens to form coalition with Merkel's conservatives in southern German state Deutsche Welle, May 1, 2016.
- ^ Jungjohann, Arne (2017). German Greens in Coalition Governments. A Political Analysis (PDF). Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union and Green European Foundation. pp. 42–55.
- ^ "German state bans burqas, niqabs in schools | DW | 21.07.2020". Deutsche Welle.
- ^ "Children banned from wearing burkas at school in German state". 23 July 2020.
- ^ "Dritte Amtszeit: Landtag von Baden-Württemberg wählt Winfried Kretschmann zum Ministerpräsidenten". Südwestrundfunk. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
- ^ Solletty, Marion (4 June 2017). "Europe's Greens search for life after death". Politico. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
- ^ Stucke, Julius (2 October 2018). "Konservative streben nach notwendigen Reformen". Deutschlandfunk Kultur. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
- ^ Brian Parkin (April 29, 2013), Merkel’s Party Shuns 'Stone Age' Greens Amid Tax-Rise Pledge Bloomberg News.
- ^ Christian Kraemer (July 17, 2012), Bavaria seeks to trump Merkel with anti-bailout card Reuters.
- New York Times.
- ^ [1] "Wer am lautesten schreit", Süddeutsche Zeitung, 5 May 2020
- ^ Kretschmann will Straftäter von Städten fernhalten, swr.de. "'Salopp gesagt ist das Gefährlichste, was die menschliche Evolution hervorgebracht hat, junge Männerhorden. Solche testosterongesteuerten Gruppen können immer Böses anrichten', so Kretschmann. Die Vergewaltigung in Freiburg sei ein schlimmes Beispiel, sagte Kretschmann mit Blick auf die Gruppenvergewaltigung einer 18-Jährigen.
- ^ [Board of Trustees] Academy of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart.
- Der Bundespräsident(in German). 23 November 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
- Deutschlandradio Kultur vom 11. Mai 2011: Oberschwabe mit ostpreußischem Migrationshintergrund, Buchrezension von Pieke Biermann
External links
- Media related to Winfried Kretschmann at Wikimedia Commons