Thomas Kemmerich | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Minister-President of Thuringia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 5 February 2020 – 4 March 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | vacant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Bodo Ramelow | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Bodo Ramelow | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of theFree Democratic Party in theLandtag of Thuringia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 26 November 2019 – 1 September 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chief Whip | Robert-Martin Montag | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Dirk Bergner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Uwe Barth(2014) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of theFree Democratic Party inThuringia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 29 November 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General Secretary | Robert-Martin Montag | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Dirk Bergner Thomas Nitzsche Gerald Ullrich | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Dirk Bergner(acting) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Thomas Karl Leonard Kemmerich (1965-02-20)20 February 1965 (age 60) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Free Democratic Party (until 2025) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence(s) | Erfurt Weimar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Bonn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation |
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| Website | Landtag website | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thomas Karl Leonard Kemmerich (born 20 February 1965) is a German politician, formerly of theFree Democratic Party (FDP) who served as theMinister-President of Thuringia from 5 February to 4 March 2020. With a tenure of only 28 days (3 days if his time as acting officeholder is excluded), he has been both the shortest-serving Minister-President of Thuringia and the shortest-servinghead of a state government in theFederal Republic of Germany (as of 2024).
AfterReinhold Maier, who had served as minister-president ofWürttemberg-Baden (1945–1952) and, after the state's fusion with two other southwestern states, of the new stateBaden-Württemberg (1952–1953), he was the second minister-president from the FDP in German history.[1] In September 2025, Kemmerich left the FDP.[2]
Kemmerich was born inAachen,West Germany. He isRoman Catholic, married, and father of six children. He completed his law studies at theUniversity of Bonn in 1989. In January 1990, just after thePeaceful Revolution inEast Germany, he moved toErfurt and became the manager of a hairdresser's chain inThuringia.[3]
He served as a member of theThuringianLandtag (state parliament) from 2009 to 2014. He became the leader of Thuringia's Free Democratic Party in 2015, and was a member of theBundestag (federal parliament) from 2017 to 2019. He returned to theLandtag after the2019 state election (where the FDP passed thefive-percent threshold by a mere 45 votes) and served as the leader of the FDP parliamentary group consisting of five lawmakers. After the2024 state election, Kemmerich called for the federal FDP to leave the governing coalition. The party lost all its seats in Thuringia.[4]
On 5 February 2020, Kemmerich was elected to the position of minister-president in the third ballot, with the support of his FDP (being the smallest group in the state parliament) as well as lawmakers of the centre-rightCDU and the far-rightAfD. Incumbent minister-presidentBodo Ramelow ofThe Left had failed to win a majority in the first two ballots. The AfD had nominated its own candidate, but abandoned him in favour of Kemmerich in the third ballot, to the surprise of CDU and FDP deputies. Kemmerich's election with AfD support violated a convention among all mainstream German political parties to refuse any co-operation with the AfD, and attracted immediate fierce criticism throughout Germany and beyond.
On 6 February, one day after his election, Kemmerich delivered a statement, in which he described his position as untenable and announced a motion for the dissolution of the state parliament in order to bring about new elections.[5] Under the provisions of the Thuringia state constitution, in order to dissolve the state parliament, a two-thirds-majority is needed, but the Thuringia AfD and CDU have both ruled out supporting a dissolution-motion. On 7 February, Kemmerich met withBirgit Keller, the President of theLandtag of Thuringia, to discuss possibilities for a swift transfer of power to a new minister-president. Kemmerich announced he would stay in office until the matter is resolved in order to secure political stability for the state.[6][7]
On 8 February, he resigned his post but stayed in office as acting minister-president until the election of a successor, as mandated by the state constitution.[8] As Kemmerich had not appointed any ministers, he was called a "one-man government".[9] For the time being, the ministries were directed by state secretaries appointed under the Ramelow government. Kemmerich stayed away from theBundesrat session on 14 February 2020, despite him being the only officeholder allowed to represent Thuringia in the chamber. Thus, the state was unrepresented for the first time since its accession to the Federal Republic in 1990.[10] On 4 March 2020, Kemmerich was succeeded by Bodo Ramelow who was re-elected minister-president by a plurality of votes. The FDP group did not participate in this election.
| Weimar Republic (1920–1933) |  | |
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| Nazi Germany (1933–1945) | ||
| Soviet administration / DDR (1945–1952) |
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| Federal Republic of Germany (since 1990) | ||
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