Katja Strauss-Köster (born 19 August 1970) is a German politician of theChristian Democratic Union (CDU). From 2009 to 2025, she was the mayor ofHerdecke. Since2025, she has been a member of theBundestag, the German federal parliament.
Strauss-Köster graduated from the Friedrich-Harkort-Gymnasium in Herdecke in 1990. From 1990 to 1994, she studiedspatial planning at theTechnical University of Dortmund. After completing her studies, she worked as a research associate and earned herDoctor of Engineering degree in 1997. The topic of her dissertation was"City Networks – Expectations and Reality from an Ecological Perspective."[1]
In 2001, she joined the city administration of Herdecke, working as an Agenda Officer. From 2005 onward, she served as the head of the Office for Sustainable Urban Development.[2] During the 2009 mayoral election, she ran as an independent candidate supported by the so-calledJamaica coalition of the CDU, theGreens, and theFDP. With a voter turnout of 63.4%, she won 70.9% of the vote, defeating theSPD candidate Renate Drewke. She succeeded long-time SPD mayor Hans-Werner Koch.
In 2015, Strauss-Köster was re-elected with 64.36% of the votes, and in 2020, she secured her third term with 66.01%.[3] Her opponent in both elections was Jan-Christoph Schaberick (SPD).
Katja Strauss-Köster is married and has a son and a daughter. Her son,Louis Köster, is a football player forFC Hansa Rostock.
On 6 June 2024 Strauss-Köster was nominated by the CDU district board ofEnnepe-Ruhr-Kreis as the candidate for Bundestag constituency 138 (Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis II) for the 21st German Bundestag election.[4] She won and entered the Bundestag.
