Katja Hessel | |
|---|---|
 Katja Hessel in 2016 | |
| Member of theBundestag | |
| In office 2017–2025 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1972-05-05)5 May 1972 (age 53) |
| Political party | FDP |
| Alma mater | University of Erlangen–Nuremberg |
Katja Hessel (born 5 May 1972) is a German lawyer and politician of theFree Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as a member of theBundestag from the state ofBavaria from 2017 to March 2025.[1]
In addition to her parliamentary work, Hessel served asParliamentary State Secretary in theFederal Ministry of Finance in thecoalition government ofChancellorOlaf Scholz from 2021 to 2024.[2][3]
Hessel was born in Nuremberg in 1972. In 1991, she passed her Abitur and then studied law in Erlangen until 1996. She passed her first state examination in 1996 and her second in 1998.
Kessel started working as a lawyer in her own law firm in 1999 and became a tax consultant in 2002.
In 1999, Hessel joined the FDP. She was a State Secretary in the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Transport and Technology under ministerMartin Zeil in the government of Minister-PresidentHorst Seehofer from 2008 to 2013.
Hessel became a member of the Bundestag in the2017 German federal election, representing theNuremberg North district. From 2018 until 2021, she was a member of the Finance Committee, which she chaired from 2020.
In addition to her committee assignments, Hessel is part of the German-Japanese Parliamentary Friendship Group.
In the negotiations to form a so-calledtraffic light coalition of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD), theGreen Party and the FDP following the2021 federal elections, Hessel was part of her party's delegation in the working group on financial regulation and thenational budget, co-chaired byDoris Ahnen,Lisa Paus andChristian Dürr.[4]
Since 2023, Hessel has been serving as co-chair of the FDP in Bavaria, alongside Martin Hagen.[5][6]
