Gunther Krichbaum | |
|---|---|
 Krichbaum in 2017 | |
| Member of theBundestag | |
| Assumed office 2002 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1964-04-05)5 April 1964 (age 61) |
| Citizenship | German |
| Political party | CDU |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Germany |
| Branch/service |  Bundeswehr |
| Years of service | 1984–1985 |
Gunther Krichbaum (born 4 May 1964) is a German lawyer and politician of theChristian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) who has been a member of the GermanBundestag since the2002 elections.
In addition to his work in parliament, Krichbaum has been serving asMinister of State at theFederal Foreign Office in thegovernment ofChancellorFriedrich Merz since 2025.[1]
In parliament, Krichbaum was a member of the Committee on Affairs of the European Union from 2002 to 2025. From 2007 to 2021 he served as the Committee's chairman, in 2021 to 2025 he was the CDU/CSU group's spokesperson on European affairs. In addition to German, Krichbaum is fluent in English and French.
After graduating from high school at Solitude grammar school inStuttgart-Weilimdorf in 1984, Krichbaum completed hismilitary service in Sigmaringen and Dillingen / Danube. From 1985 onwards he studied law at theEberhard Karls University of Tübingen and theRuprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg as well as inLausanne andGeneva which he finished in 1991 with the firststate examination in law. During his studies, he received a scholarship from theKonrad-Adenauer-Foundation and became a member of thestudent association Ulmia Tübingen.
After completing his legal clerkship inHeidelberg, Krichbaum passed the second state examination in 1995 and subsequently worked until 2002 as a self-employed economic consultant forMLP AG inPforzheim.
Krichbaum joined theJunge Union in 1979 and also the CDU in 1983. He wasdeputy chairman of the CDU city association Pforzheim from 1999 to 2009 and he serves a district chairman of the CDU Enzkreis / Pforzheim since 2009.[citation needed]
Krichbaum has been a member of the GermanBundestag since the2002 elections. From 2005, he served as a deputy spokesman for theEuropean Parliament of theCDU/CSU parliamentary group, under the leadership of the group's chairmanVolker Kauder. During that time, he was also his parliamentary group'srapporteur onRomania.
From 2007 until 2021, Krichbaum chaired the Committee on European Affairs. In addition to his committee assignments, he has been a member of the German delegation to theFranco-German Parliamentary Assembly since 2019.[2]
Krichbaum was always directly elected as a representative of theconstituencyPforzheim in theBundestag. In his first election in 2002, he was able to regain for the CDU the direct mandate lost in 1998 to the SPD against the state leader of the SPD Baden-Württemberg,Ute Vogt. He defended thisin 2005 with 46.9% andin 2009 with 40.7% of the first votes. In the general electionin 2013, he reached with 49.5% of the first votes the best result of the CDU in this constituency since the federal electionin 1983.[3] In his fifthfederal elections 2017, he could not repeat this result, but won the direct mandate with 36.4% of the votes.[4]
In the negotiations to form afourth coalition government underChancellorAngela Merkel following the2017 federal elections, Krichbaum was part of the working group on European policy, led byPeter Altmaier,Alexander Dobrindt andAchim Post.[citation needed]
On the EU level, Krichbaum serves on the board of theEuropean People´s Party (EPP).[citation needed]
TheQueen of the Netherlands appointed Krichbaum to theGrand Officer of theOrder of Orange Nassau, in 2009 he was appointed Officer of theLegion of Honor by theFrench President and in 2010 appointed by the Romanian President as Commander of theStar of Romania. In 2012 he received theDecoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria.[7]
In June 2017, Krichbaum voted against Germany’s introduction ofsame-sex marriage.[8] Ahead of the Christian Democrats’leadership election in 2018, he publicly endorsedFriedrich Merz to succeedAngela Merkel as the party’s chair.[9]
Krichbaum isprotestant, married a second time and father of three children from his first marriage.[10]
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| People | |
