Catarina dos Santos-Wintz | |
|---|---|
| Member of theBundestag | |
| Assumed office 26 October 2021 | |
| Constituency | Aachen II |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Catarina dos Santos Firnhaber (1994-07-08)8 July 1994 (age 31) Lisbon, Portugal |
| Citizenship |
|
| Political party | Christian Democratic Union (since 2014) |
| Alma mater | University of Cologne |
| Occupation | Lawyer •Politician |
Catarina dos Santos-Wintz (born as Catarina dos Santos Firnhaber on 8 July 1994, inLisbon, Portugal[1]) is a GermanCDU (Christian Democratic Union) politician and lawyer. She has been a member of theGerman Bundestag since thefederal election in 2021 and wasre-elected in 2025. She directly represents the Aachen II constituency (constituency 087[2]) and is one of the youngest members in parliament.
Catarina dos Santos was born in Lisbon in 1994 and grew up inEschweiler (StädteRegion Aachen, Germany). After graduating from theBischöfliche Liebfrauenschule in Eschweiler in 2012, she studied law at theUniversity of Cologne, specializing intax law and completed her degrees in 2017 and 2020 (German bar exam). She then worked as a lawyer at a law firm near Düsseldorf until 2023, focusing on corporate succession and foundations.[3]
Catarina dos Santos joined both theJunge Union (JU) and theChristian Democratic Union (CDU) in 2014. Within the CDU, she serves as a membership representative for CDU Aachen Land and is a member of the executive board of CDU North Rhine-Westphalia (CDU NRW). She is also a member of the Mittelstands- und Wirtschaftsunion (MIT) and the Frauen Union NRW.
Since 2020, she has served as deputy parliamentary group leader of theCDU parliamentary group in the Städteregionstag ofStädteRegion Aachen and is also a member of the Eschweiler city council.[4]
In the 2021 federal election, she ran as the CDU's direct candidate in theAachen II constituency. She entered the German Bundestag via position 15 on the CDUsstate list. Her first-vote result of 32.5% was the highest among all candidates who did not secure a direct mandate.[5] In the 2025 federal election, she won 40.1% of thefirst votes and was directly elected to the Bundestag.[6]
In the German Bundestag, dos Santos served as a full member of theCommittee on Digital Affairs and the Committee onEuropean Union Affairs during the 20th parliamentary term.[7] She was also a deputy member of theCommittee on Foreign Affairs, theCommittee on Legal Affairs, and the Subcommittee onEuropean Law. Additionally, she is a member of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly and serves as Deputy Chair of the German-PortugueseParliamentary Group.[8]
Since 2022, dos Santos has served as Counsel to the Diáspora Portuguesa (World Portuguese Network).[9]
As part of thecoalition negotiations after the 2025 federal election, dos Santos participated in theCDU Germany’s working group on digital affairs.[10]