Christian Lindner | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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_by_Sandro_Halank%25E2%2580%25932.jpg) Official portrait, 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of the Free Democratic Party | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 7 December 2013 – 16 May 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Wolfgang Kubicki Nicola Beer Johannes Vogel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General Secretary | Nicola Beer Linda Teuteberg Volker Wissing Marco Buschmann | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Philipp Rösler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Christian Dürr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of Finance | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 8 December 2021 – 7 November 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chancellor | Olaf Scholz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Olaf Scholz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Jörg Kukies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of theFree Democratic Party in theBundestag | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 24 October 2017 – 7 December 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chief Whip | Marco Buschmann | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Katja Suding Michael Theurer Stephan Thomae Alexander Graf Lambsdorff Christian Dürr Frank Sitta | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Rainer Brüderle(2013) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Christian Dürr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of theFree Democratic Party in theLandtag of North Rhine-Westphalia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 31 May 2012 – 10 October 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Gerhard Papke | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Christof Rasche | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of theFree Democratic Party inNorth Rhine-Westphalia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 13 May 2012 – 27 November 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Daniel Bahr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Joachim Stamp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General Secretary of theFree Democratic Party | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 24 December 2009 – 14 December 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader | Guido Westerwelle Philipp Rösler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Dirk Niebel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Patrick Döring | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Christian Wolfgang Lindner (1979-01-07)7 January 1979 (age 46) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | FDP (1995–present) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouses | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Bonn (MA) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Military service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allegiance |  Germany | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Branch/service |  Bundeswehr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years of service | 2002–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | Major | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unit | German Air Force Reserve | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Christian Wolfgang Lindner (German:[ˈkʁɪsti̯anˈvɔlfɡaŋˈlɪndnɐ]ⓘ; born 7 January 1979) is a German retired politician of theFree Democratic Party (FDP) who was theFederal Minister of Finance from 2021 until his dismissal in 2024 during the2024 German government crisis. Serving from 2013 to 2025, Lindner was the longest-servingparty-leader of the FDP and aMember of the Bundestag (MdB) forNorth Rhine-Westphalia from 2017 to 2025. having previously held a seat from 2009 until 2012.[1][2] Lindner resigned as party leader and announced his retirement from active politics after the FDP dropped out of parliament as a result of the2025 federal election.[3] His decision to withdraw from theScholz cabinet is often considered the main catalyst for the party's inability to enter theBundestag in the election.[4]
Christian Lindner was born inWuppertal,West Germany. His father Wolfgang Lindner is a teacher of mathematics andcomputer science at theStädtisches Gymnasium inWermelskirchen.
After graduating fromGymnasium in 1998 and analternative civilian service, Christian Lindner studied political science at theUniversity of Bonn from 1999 to 2006.[5] After eleven semesters he acquired the academic degree ofMagister Artium (M.A). In his master's thesis at the Institute of Political Science, he dealt with the topic: "Tax competition and revenue sharing. Can the financial constitution be reformed?"[6] In 2006, he began writing his dissertation under supervision from political science professor Frank Decker, which he has so far not completed due to his political activities.[7]
While studying, Lindner became a reserve officer in theGerman Air Force. In 2002, he was promoted to First Lieutenant (Oberleutnant) in theReserve. In 2008 he was aliaison officer to the state command Landeskommando of the state ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia in Düsseldorf. Since September 2011 he has held the rank of Captain (Hauptmann) in the Reserve.[8][9] Currently, Lindner is aMajor in the Air Force.[10]
Lindner joined the FDP in 1995.[11] He has been a member of the executive board of the FDP in the state ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia since 1998 and became Secretary General in 2004 (until February 2010).[11] At theMay 2000 election for theLandtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, the 21-year old Lindner was elected, becoming the youngest MP in the history of the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia.[11] Lindner was from 2000 initially 'spokesman for Intergenerational Affairs, Family and Integration' and then from 2005 to 2009 was also vice chairman of the FDP parliamentary group in the parliament and spokesman for Innovation, Science and Technology. In 2007 he also became a member of the federal executive board of the FDP.
From 2009 Lindner was a member of the German Bundestag. In the negotiations to form acoalition government following the2009 federal elections, he was part of the FDP delegation in the working group on families, integration of immigrants and culture, led byMaria Böhmer and Hans-Joachim Otto.
From December 2009 until his surprise resignation[12] in December 2011, Lindner was also Secretary General of the FDP on federal level, largely under the leadership of party chairmanGuido Westerwelle and later underPhilipp Rösler when Westerwelle had to resign.[11] Lindner's resignation was caused by an internal party vote which had been forced by a group centered around theEurosceptic FDP parliamentarianFrank Schäffler to determine the FDP's future course on questions pertaining to theEuropean Stability Mechanism (ESM).[13]
Lindner was later chosen to chair the North Rhine-Westphalian FDP in the2012 state election ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia, succeedingDaniel Bahr.[14] In the election, the FDP received 8.6% of the vote,[15] surpassing all expectations at the time as the party had been fighting over all the country to reach the minimum representation of 5% for years and was losing representation in several states.[16] Following the party's victory at that election he was elected Parliamentary leader of the FDP in the North Rhine-Westphalian Landtag, succeeding Gerhard Papke on 15 May 2012, and worked in the opposition. In March 2013, he was elected one of Rösler's deputies, alongsideSabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger andHolger Zastrow.
Lindner was elected the new chairman of the FDP following the resignation of ChairmanPhilipp Rösler after the2013 German federal elections[17] in which the FDP failed to clear the 5% hurdle to enter the Bundestag for the first time since 1949.[18]
Ahead of the2014 European elections, Lindner and Dutch Prime MinisterMark Rutte served as 'mediators' betweenOlli Rehn andGuy Verhofstadt, theAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe's candidates for thepresidency of theEuropean Commission;[19] eventually, the candidates agreed to jointly lead the ALDE's campaign for elections, with Verhofstadt running to succeedJosé Manuel Barroso.[20] At the time, Lindner was widely regarded to support Rehn.[21]
Lindner was a FDP delegate to theFederal Convention for the purpose of electing thePresident of Germany in 2017, where he endorsed the government's candidateFrank-Walter Steinmeier.[22] That same year, he led his party's successful campaign for the2017 state elections ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia, which resulted in the FDP joining the state government of incomingMinister-PresidentArmin Laschet. Lindner himself did not take a position in the new government because of his aim to lead the FDP back to the Bundestag in September 2017.
In the2017 German federal election, Lindner led the FDP to achieve a result of 10.7%. After that success he was elected leader of the FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag.
In October 2017,Angela Merkel's CDU andKatrin Göring-Eckardt's andCem Özdemir'sGreens started negotiations with the FDP to form a government, in which Lindner was widely seen as the future Minister of Finance, as the CDU had even nominated the former MinisterWolfgang Schäuble asPresident of the Bundestag to make place for the FDP. Such a coalition was the only realistic possibility to form a government (except for aGrand coalition) but had almost never been used before on any regional level in Germany. In November 2017, after midnight, Lindner and his party left the already prolonged negotiations after four unsuccessful weeks, which led to the longest government formation in German history and finally in March 2018 once more to a Grand Coalition with theSPD, which had previously rejected any participation in the new government.
In 2021 Christian Lindner was re-elected federal chairman of the FDP with 93 percent of the vote and at the same time was chosen as the party's top candidate for the federal election.[23]
Following the2021 German federal election, the FDP agreed to enter government with theGreens andSocial Democrats, as part of atraffic light coalition led byOlaf Scholz. Lindner was named asFinance Minister, and took office on 8 December 2021.[24]
After the G7 countries announced that they would present strong sanctions against Russia, Lindner stated that they should target Russian oligarchs. He stated: "We are working on further sanctions. I am particularly concerned that the oligarchs should be affected. Those who have profited fromPutin and stolen the wealth of the Russian people, including through corruption, should not be allowed to enjoy their prosperity in our Western democracies".[25]
On the night of 24 February 2022, right after Russia started its invasion of Ukraine, Lindner according to the Ambassador of Ukraine in Germany told Ukraine's ambassadorAndriy Melnyk that "Ukraine has only a few hours" left, so he opposed arms supplies to Kyiv and Russia's disconnection fromSWIFT.[26][27] On 17 May 2022, Lindner said he is "politically open to the idea of seizing" the frozenforeign-exchange reserves of theCentral Bank of Russia —which amount to over $300 billion— to cover the costs of rebuilding Ukraine after the war.[28]
In August 2022, Lindner announced a "big step" to improve anti-money laundering and sanctions enforcement in Germany: he wanted to create a "Federal Financial Criminal Investigation Office" to end the good conditions for money laundering in Germany.[29][30] TheGdP warned of fragmented responsibilities and authorities at federal and state levels; rather, Lindner should strengthen the existing Federal Customs Office. To this day there is no "Federal Financial Criminal Investigation Office".[29] Experts criticize that the new agency lacks the authority to seizure suspicious assets by administrative order and the exclusion of tax-related offences from its jurisdiction, according to a draft published until September 2023.[31]
Lindner has been a staunch defender of the constitutionally-enshrineddebt brake and seen as reluctant to agree another suspension in 2024.[32]
In July 2024 Lindner argued that Germany would need to halve its aid to Ukraine.[33] In August 2024 Lindner halted new aid to Ukraine, saying the aid would in future be supplied from the frozen funds in the west of theRussian Central Bank.Robert Habeck, among others, thought that this might stress the ruling coalition,[34] and this had already impacted the promisedDiehlIRIS-T system, which turned out not to have been funded by Germany after all because of the restrictions put in place by Lindner.[35]
In September 2024, Lindner agreed with an FDP position paper that proposed cuts to the social benefits for asylum seekers, as well as designating some North African countries as "safe" for ease of repatriation.[36]
On 6 November 2024, Lindner's dismissal was proposed by Olaf Scholz, citing loss of trust.[37] On 7 November he was dismissed from office by the Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.[38] His removal led to the collapse of the governing coalition, with two other FDP members resigning from their ministries and athird minister leaving the FDP.[39]
Lindner led the FDP in the2025 German federal election. As expected in the polls, the FDP failed to reach the 5% threshold, resulting in the party failing to secure any seats in the21st Bundestag.[40] Shortly after the announcement of the projected election results, Lindner announced his retirement from politics and resignation as FDP leader.[41]
In 2022, Lindner called for renewed talks over a free trade agreement between the European Union and the United States, aiming to revive discussions on the so-calledTransatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).[57]
In early 2015, an impassioned response to heckling by Lindner, defending entrepreneurs and startup culture, made it onto newspaper front pages and became one of the most watched political speeches in months. Lindner was speaking before thestate legislature in North Rhine-Westphalia about the importance of entrepreneurship and how failed entrepreneurs deserve a second chance when a Social Democratic member in the audience heckled: "That [failure] is something you have experience in." That was a reference to an Internet company co-founded by Lindner that failed after the dot-com bubble burst in the early 2000s. Lindner responded with a2+1⁄2-minute speech, saying: "If one succeeds, one ends up in the sights of the Social Democratic redistribution machinery and, if one fails, one can be sure of derision and mockery." He added that this particular member preferred to have a secure job in public service for his entire life, rather than daring to found a company, and how the message of that heckling attempt was the total opposite of what had been announced just minutes earlier by the president of the state legislature, who also happened to be an SPD member.[58][59]
Bild, the highest-circulation tabloid in Germany, praised Lindner on its front page. The Berlin dailyTagesspiegel said the rant offered a welcome contrast to the "persistent fog of alternative-less Merkelism" that characterized debate in the Bundestag.[58] What they were referring to was the situation that because of the narrow defeats of the FDP and theAfD, the opposition in the Bundestag only included left parties. Many policies of Merkel's government directly came from their center-left coalition partner SPD or were at least negotiated and harmonized with them, and then only left parties reacted on them, who usually criticized those policies as inadequate and advocated for more investment into them or stronger policies, but did not oppose them on a principled basis.
Shortly after the2017 elections, Lindner ruled out taking on new debt to manage the balancing act of cutting income taxes and increasing investment on digital infrastructure. He criticized outgoing Finance MinisterWolfgang Schäuble for not being tough enough onGreece and not cutting income taxes for middle-class workers.[60]
Lindner criticized some of the actions taken during the2023–2024 German farmers' protests, especially after the blockade ofRobert Habeck on a ferry.[61]
US economistJoseph Stiglitz and British economistAdam Tooze criticized Lindner's fiscal positions in 2021, arguing that, if put into practice, they would pose a threat to the economic future of Germany and Europe. They called his positions an "accumulation of conservative clichés" from a "bygone era" that had become obsolete "after three decades of crisis on the financial markets, in geopolitics [and] in the environmental field".[62]
In 2011, Lindner married journalistDagmar Rosenfeld; they had started dating in 2009.[63][64] On 19 April 2018, they announced their separation.[65] In 2018, he started dating journalistFranca Lehfeldt, whom he married in 2022.[66] Their first child, a daughter, was born in April 2025[67]
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Secretary General of theFree Democratic Party 2009–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Leader of theFree Democratic Party 2013–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of Finance 2021–2024 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| People | |
| Other | |
