Kai Wegner | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Wegner in 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Governing Mayor of Berlin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 27 April 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Franziska Giffey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of theChristian Democratic Union inBerlin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 18 May 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General Secretary |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Monika Grütters | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of theChristian Democratic Union in theAbgeordnetenhaus of Berlin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 30 September 2021 – 27 April 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Whips |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Burkard Dregger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Dirk Stettner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Kai Peter Wegner (1972-09-15)15 September 1972 (age 53) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Christian Democratic Union(from 1989) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | Official website | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Military service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allegiance |  Germany | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Branch/service |  Bundeswehr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years of service | 1993–1994 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unit |  Air Force (Luftwaffe) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kai Wegner (born 15 September 1972) is a German politician of theChristian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving asGoverning Mayor of Berlin since April 2023. He served as a member of theBundestag, the German federal parliament, from 2005 to 2021. In 2019, he became the chairman of the CDU inBerlin.
Wegner was born 1972 inWest Berlin and became an insurance salesman.[1][2]
Wegner joined the CDU in 1989 and served as vice chair of the party in Berlin from 2000 to 2002.[3]
Wegner was a member of the GermanBundestag from the2005 until 2021, representing Berlin'sSpandau district. In parliament, he served on the Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy from 2005 until 2013 before moving to the Committee on Building, Housing, Urban Development and Local Government and the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. In this capacity, he was his parliamentary group's spokesperson on building and housing since 2018.
From 2011 until 2016, Wegner served as secretary general of the CDU in Berlin, under the leadership of chairmanFrank Henkel. In May 2019 he succeededMonika Grütters as chair of the CDU in Berlin.[4]
In October 2020, Wegner announced his candidacy forGoverning Mayor of Berlin in the2021 Berlin state election;[5] he eventually lost againstFranziska Giffey. He has since been serving as his parliamentary group's chairperson and thereby the leader of the opposition.[6]
Wegner was appointed as CDU delegate to theFederal Conventions for the purpose of electing thePresident of Germany in2022.[7]
Following the large gains made by the CDU in the2023 Berlin state election, Wegner became Berlin’s first conservative mayor in 22 years and formed theWegner senate.[8]
In June 2017, Wegner voted against his parliamentary group's majority and in favor ofGermany's introduction of same-sex marriage.[11]
Ahead of the Christian Democrats'leadership election, Wegner first endorsed in 2020Friedrich Merz and laterJens Spahn to succeedAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as the party's chair.[12][13] For the2021 national elections, he later endorsedMarkus Söder as the Christian Democrats' joint candidate to succeedChancellorAngela Merkel.[14]
When Merz argued in 2023 that the Christian Democrats may look to work together with the far rightAlternative for Germany at the municipal level, Wegner sought to distance himself from that suggestion, arguing onTwitter that "the CDU cannot, doesn't want to, and will not cooperate with a party whose business model is hate, division and exclusion."[15]
In April 2024, he condemned a conference ofpro-Palestinian activists in Berlin held duringIsrael's offensive in theGaza Strip, saying that "Berlin does not tolerate antisemitism, hatred, and incitement against Jews."[16]
Wegner lives inSpandau, Berlin.[17] He is Protestant, divorced, and has two children with his second wife and one with his first wife.
| Berlin1 (1809–1948) |
|  |
|---|---|---|
.svg) East Berlin1(1948–90) | ||
 West Berlin3(1948–90) | ||
| Berlin3 (1990–present) | ||
| ||
