Astrid Mannes | |
|---|---|
| Member of theBundestag forDarmstadt | |
| In office 2017–2021 | |
| Preceded by | Brigitte Zypries |
| Succeeded by | Andreas Larem |
| Assumed office 2024 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1967-01-02)2 January 1967 (age 58) |
| Citizenship | German |
| Political party | CDU |
Astrid Mannes (born 2 January 1967) is a German author and politician of theChristian Democratic Union (CDU) who has served as amember of thenational parliament ("Bundestag") from 2017 to 2021 and again since 2024.[1]
For her first term, Mannes was directly elected as a member forconstituency ofDarmstadt.[2][3][4]
Astrid Luise Mannes was born into a Protestant family inHilden, a mid-sized industrial town a short distance to the east ofDüsseldorf. She grew up in the town, where she attended the Helmholtz-Gymnasium (secondary school), successfully passing her school final exams (Abitur) in 1986.[2] Her degree, for which she studied between 1986 and 1990, embraced history, political sciences and public law.[5] She received her degree in 1991.
During 1991/92 Mannes worked as a personal assistant toHerbert Czaja who at that time was president (described in at least one source as "the controversial president"[6]) of theFederation of Expellees ("Bund der Vertriebenen"), an organisation originally formed in 1957 to represent the interests of ethnic German victims of theethnic cleansing east of theOder–Neisse line during 1944-1950.[6] Between 1992 and 2000 she was employed as a research assistant in the then recently relocatedBundestag. During this time she worked both for theCDU/CSU parliamentary group as a whole and for several individualBundestag members.[6]
Between 2000 and 2007 Mannes held a succession of relatively short-term appointments, while keeping in touch with the world of politics. From 2001 till 2003 she was a press spokeswoman for the German Didacta Association ("Deutschen Didacta Verband"), a lobbying organisation representing businesses involved in education and training. She also found time to work on her doctorate, which she received from theUniversity of Dortmund in 2005. Her dissertation was a biography ofConstantin Fehrenbach, a long-forgotten (by many)German chancellor during the early days ofGerman democracy.[7]
During 1986/87 Mannes served as chair of theAssociation of Christian Democratic Students faction in theBonnStudent Parliament. She joined theCDU (party) itself in 1990.[4] Within the party she was involved in various committees. Between 2006 and 2008 she served as district chair of the(CDU) Women's Union inDarmstadt-Dieburg, having by this time moved the centre of her operation upriver to the region south ofFrankfurt.
In 2007 Mannes put herself forward as a candidate in the mayoral election forMühltal, a small town in the hills to the south of Darmstadt. On 1 July 2007, two days after the much postponed opening of theLohberg road tunnel,[8] she was elected, taking office on 28 November 2007.[9] She was a popular mayor. On 9 June 2013, she received the votes of 54.9% of participating voters in the subsequent mayoral election.[10]
On 27 March 2011 the local party moved her up from place 39 to place 10 on theCDU candidate list for the district council election which, given the strength of party support in the area, meant that she became a member of the district council. She became a member of the CDU Party Executive forSouth Hesse (Darmstadt region).[4]
In the2017 General Election Mannes stood successfully for election to thenational parliament ("Bundestag"). This time, instead of being elected through inclusion on a regional party list, she was elected directly as the winning candidate for theDarmstadt electoral district ("Wahlkreis 186"). Her margin of victory was a narrow one: Darmstadt had previously been represented byBrigitte Zypries (SPD) since2005. In parliament, she served on the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment.
Manneslost her seat in the2021 German federal election[11] but eventually re-entered parliament when she took the seat ofIngmar Jung who had resigned.[12]
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