Jens Böhrnsen | |
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| President of the Senate and Mayor of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen | |
| In office 8 November 2005 – 15 July 2015 | |
| Deputy | Thomas Röwekamp Karoline Linnert |
| Preceded by | Henning Scherf |
| Succeeded by | Carsten Sieling |
| President of theBundesrat | |
| In office 1 November 2009 – 31 October 2010 | |
| First Vice President | Peter Müller |
| Preceded by | Peter Müller |
| Succeeded by | Hannelore Kraft |
| Acting President of Germany | |
| In office 31 May 2010 – 30 June 2010 | |
| Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
| Preceded by | Horst Köhler |
| Succeeded by | Christian Wulff |
| Member of theBürgerschaft of Bremen forBremen | |
| In office 8 June 1995 – 8 November 2005 | |
| Succeeded by | Karin Garling |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1949-06-12)12 June 1949 (age 76) Bremen-Gröpelingen,Bremen, West Germany |
| Political party | Social Democratic Party |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent |
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| Residence | Bremen |
| Alma mater | University of Kiel University of Hamburg |
| Occupation |
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| Website | Official Bremen government website |
Jens Böhrnsen (born 12 June 1949) is a German politician of theSPD who served asPresident of the Senate and Mayor of Bremen from 2005 to 2015. From 1 November 2009 until 31 October 2010 he wasPresident of the Bundesrat. As such, he was acting head of state of Germany from the resignation of PresidentHorst Köhler on 31 May 2010 until the election ofChristian Wulff on 30 June 2010. Böhrnsen resigned in 2015 after his party sustained losses in state parliament election.
Böhrnsen is a lawyer by profession and served as a judge in Bremen from 1978 to 1995, when he became a full-time politician.
Böhrnsen was born on 12 June 1949 inGröpelingen, then a workers' district ofBremen, to parents active in theSocial Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) andlabor unions. His father,Gustav Böhrnsen, a communist turned social democrat, was also an SPD politician and served as chairman of the SPD group in the Parliament of Bremen 1968–1971.[1] Jens Böhrnsen joined the SPD in 1967.[1] At theUniversity of Kiel, he studied law, and concluded his studies with the firstStaatsexamen in 1973, and the secondStaatsexamen in 1977 at theUniversity of Hamburg.[1] He worked as an assessor in Bremen's administration, thereafter as a judge for 17 years, before he was elected to theParliament of Bremen (Bürgerschaft).[1]
In 1999, Böhrnsen was elected head of the SPD group of the Parliament of Bremen.[1] On 8 November 2005, Bremen's legislative assembly elected Böhrnsen as mayor after he had won the Social Democrat primary for the office, which had become vacant with the resignation ofHenning Scherf as a mayor and head ofsenate of Bremen.[1]
Recently, Böhrnsen has been involved in the debate revolving around a modernization ofGermany's constitution. In the process, he rejected demands for the state of Bremen to merge withLower Saxony to form a new northern state (a unit within Germany's federal system) — a demand that had been making the rounds as Bremen is not only the smallest German state, but has also been saddled with an extraordinary amount of debt for the past 15 years. After the 2007 state elections, Böhrnsen abandoned the coalition with theChristian Democrats (CDU) and instead started a coalition with theGreens. He is longlisted for the 2008World Mayor award.
As president of the Senate of Bremen, Böhrnsen was electedPresident of the German Bundesrat for the year 2009–2010, starting 1 November 2009.[1] This office rotates between the heads of government of thestates of Germany following a defined schedule. According to theGerman constitution,[2] the head of the Bundesrat is the designated substitute for thePresident of Germany.[1] WhenHorst Köhler resigned from the presidency on 31 May 2010, Böhrnsen assumed the functions of head of state of Germany until the election of a successor by aFederal Convention.[1][3] The successor wasChristian Wulff, who assumed office upon his election on 30 June 2010.
After his party lost more than five percentage points in thestate election on 10 May 2015, Böhrnsen retired as head of government. His successor wasCarsten Sieling.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | President of the Senate and Mayor of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen 2005–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the German Bundesrat 2009–2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of Germany Acting 2010 | Succeeded by |
Presidents of the Senate and mayors ofBremen since 1945 | ||
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