Esra Limbacher | |
|---|---|
| Member of theBundestag forSaarland | |
| Assumed office 26 October 2021 | |
| Constituency | Homburg |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1989-05-01)1 May 1989 (age 36) |
| Political party | Social Democratic Party |
| Alma mater | |
Esra-Leon Limbacher (born 1 May 1989 inWiesbaden) is a German politician of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as a member of theBundestag since 2021, representing theHomburg district.[1] Previously, he was a member of the Saarland state parliamentLandtag of Saarland until November 2021.
Limbacher was born in the West German city of Wiesbaden and grew up in Limbach in the municipality ofKirkel.[2]
After graduation from high school in theSaarpfalz district Limbacher studiedlaw atSaarland University in order to become a lawyer.[3] He studiedlaw both in Germany and England as a scholarship holder of theFriedrich Ebert Foundation. At theUniversity of Exeter, he obtained aMaster of Laws with a focus on international commercial law. He completed his law studies in Germany, again at Saarland University, specialising in German and international tax law.[4] He passed his second state law examination in the Higher Regional Court District ofZweibrücken,Rhineland-Palatinate.[4][5][6]
Professionally, Limbacher passed through stations in various law firms before becoming an officer in the higher service of the Saarland state administration. Here he was deployed as a lawyer within the taskforce for cross-border commuters.[4] Since 2020, Limbacher has been pursuing a doctorate and is a lecturer at Saarland University.[5][6][7]
Limbacher entered the SPD in 2005. Here he held various political offices in the youth organization Jussos and the SPD. In theJusos, Limbacher was involved as district chairman of Saarpfalz and deputy state chairman in Saarland. In 2009, he was elected to the local council of the municipality of Kirkel in the local elections. Since 2019, he has also been a member of the Saarpfalz district council and parliamentary group leader of the SPD.[5]
Since 2021, Esra Limbacher has been the district chairman of the SPD Saarpfalz, together with Christine Streichert-Clivot.[8]
In the2017 federal election, he stood as a candidate for the direct mandate in the constituency ofHomburg. With 31.4% of the first votes, he lost to the CDU politicianMarkus Uhl, who received 33.6% of the votes. In June 2021, he succeeded Stefan Pauluhn in the Saarland Landtag. In the2017 Saarland state election in Saarland, Limbacher had initially missed out on entry due to his list placement.[9]
Limbacher was also nominated by the SPD as a candidate for the2021 federal election.[6] This time he received the most votes with 36.6%, followed by Markus Uhl, who received 26.1% of the votes.[10] This meant that he entered the 20th German Bundestag as a directly elected MP. In the course of this, he resigned his Landtag mandate. Susanne Kasztantowicz succeeded him in the Landtag.
In parliament, Limbacher served on the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Committee on Economic Affairs from 2021 to 2025.[11][5] From 2022 to 2025, he was the SME representative of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag.[12] In November 2022, he was elected as deputy economic policy spokesman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag after his predecessorFalko Mohrs became Minister of Science in Lower Saxony.[13]
Within his parliamentary group, Limbacher has been part of theSeeheim Circle.[14]
In the negotiations to form aGrand Coalition under the leadership ofFriedrich Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU together with the BavarianCSU) and the SPD following the2025 German elections, Limbacher was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on government reform and cuttingred tape, led byPhilipp Amthor,Daniela Ludwig andSonja Eichwede.[15]
Since 2025, Limbacher has been serving as deputy chair of his parliamentary group, under the leadership of chairmanMatthias Miersch. In this capacity, he oversees the group’s legislative activities on housing, agriculture, the environment and climate action.[16] Within his parliamentary group, he has also been serving as one of the three speakers of theSeeheim Circle since 2025.[17]
