Matthias Platzeck | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Platzeck in 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of the Social Democratic Party | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 16 November 2005 – 10 April 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General Secretary | Hubertus Heil | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Franz Müntefering | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Kurt Beck | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister-President of Brandenburg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 26 June 2002 – 28 August 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Jörg Schönbohm Ulrich Junghanns Johanna Wanka Helmuth Markov | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Manfred Stolpe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Dietmar Woidke | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President of the Bundesrat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 1 November 2004 – 31 October 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Vice President | Dieter Althaus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Dieter Althaus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Peter Harry Carstensen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mayor of Potsdam | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 4 November 1998 – 26 June 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Horst Gramlich | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Jann Jakobs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Regional Planning of Brandenburg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 22 November 1990 – 3 November 1998 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister-President | Manfred Stolpe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Office established | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Eberhard Henne | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of theLandtag of Brandenburg forUckermark I (Potsdam II; 2004–2009) (Alliance 90/The Greens List; 1990–1992) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 13 October 2004 – 8 October 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Lothar Bisky | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Uwe Schmidt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 26 October 1990 – 30 September 1992 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Constituency established | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Carmen Kirmes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1953-12-29)29 December 1953 (age 71) Potsdam,East Germany (now Germany) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Social Democratic Party (1995–) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other political affiliations | Independent (1993–1995) Alliance 90 (1990–1993) East German Green Party (1990) Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (1989) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouses | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Potsdam | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Technische Universität Ilmenau | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation |
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| Website | Brandenburgische Landeszentrale für politische Bildung website | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Military service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allegiance |  East Germany | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Branch/service |  National People's Army | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years of service | 1972-1974 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Matthias Platzeck (born 29 December 1953) is a German politician. He wasMinister President ofBrandenburg from 2002 to 2013 and party chairman of theSPD from November 2005 to April 2006.
On 29 July 2013, Platzeck announced his resignation from his office in August for health reasons.
After he left party politics, he became known for his contacts to Russia and, in the aftermath of theRussian invasion of Ukraine 2014 , he was repeatedly criticized for his Pro-Russian statements.
Platzeck was born inPotsdam, the son of a physician and a medical-technical assistant. After attendingPolytechnic Secondary School in Potsdam from 1960 to 1966, he went throughExtended Secondary School inKleinmachnow. Following hisAbitur in 1972 andmilitary service he studied biomedical cybernetics at theTechnische Universität Ilmenau from 1974 onward. After his diploma in 1979, Platzeck worked at the institute for hygiene inKarl-Marx-Stadt (todayChemnitz) in 1979–1980 and the general hospital inBad Freienwalde from 1980 to 1982. From 1982 to 1990 he was head of the department for environmental hygiene at the agency for hygiene in Potsdam.
Platzeck co-founded ARGUS, a Potsdam environmental organization, with and at the initiative ofCarola Stabe in April 1988. In April 1989, he joined theLiberal Democratic Party of Germany but left it shortly thereafter.[1] He represented ARGUS at the founding of theGrüne Liga association of local environmental organizations inEast Germany in November 1989. During the political "Wende" of 1989–1990 that led toGerman Reunification he was their speaker at theEast German Round Table talks.[2] From February to April 1990 he represented the oppositional radical Green Party as Minister without Portfolio in the last non-elected but legitimate government of the GDR. Platzeck was elected member of theVolkskammer in 1990 for the Green Party and was parliamentary secretary of the joined faction of Greens and Bündnis 90 (Alliance 90).
AfterGerman reunification, he was one of 144 members of theVolkskammerco-opted to theBundestag. He did not run for a full term in the1990 German federal election.
In October 1990 Platzeck became a member of theLandtag of Brandenburg for Bündnis 90 (Alliance 90). He was Minister for the Environment in a coalition government with theSPD andFDP from 1990 to 1994, when the coalition broke up. Rejecting the merger of his party with the West GermanGreen Party he did not join the new partyBündnis 90/Die Grünen in 1993. Instead, he became a member of the SPD on 6 June 1995.
After the break of the Brandenburg coalition in 1994 Platzeck left his faction and remained Minister for the Environment underMinister-presidentManfred Stolpe. He became popular nationwide for organizing public support for the affected population during a flood of theOder river in 1997. In 1998 he was elected mayor ofBrandenburg's capital Potsdam and rejected the offer of ChancellorGerhard Schröder to join the federal cabinet asMinister for Transport.
In 2000 Platzeck was elected chairman of the SPD in Brandenburg and in 2002 he succeeded Manfred Stolpe as Minister-president. He was re-elected to theLandtag (state parliament) in 2004. With the SPD as strongest political force he could continue his coalition with theCDU. He served asPresident of theBundesrat in 2004–05.
WhenFranz Müntefering resigned as party chairman of the SPD because of internal conflicts, Platzeck was elected party chairman on 15 November 2005 with an overwhelming majority of 99.8 percent.[3] In January, February and April 2006 Platzeck suffered three severehearing losses. Due to his ill health he resigned from his post as chairman on 10 April 2006, only five months after becoming chairman.
In 2014 Platzeck became chairman of the German-Russian Forum, with some 350 members at the time. In this function he later hostedVladimir Yakunin and was criticsized for not explicitly objecting Yakunins rants about Ukraine.[4]
Both in 2015 and 2016, Platzeck andBodo Ramelow were appointed as unpaid arbitrators for negotiations betweenDeutsche Bahn and theGerman Train Drivers' Union (GDL).[5] In 2016, he also served as unpaid arbitrator for negotiations between German airlineLufthansa and its flight attendants' union.[6]
From 2018 until 2019, Platzeck co-chaired the German government's so-called coal commission, which is tasked to develop a masterplan before the end of the year on how tophase-out coal and create a new economic perspective for the country's coal-mining regions.[7]
In 2018, after thePoisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in England, Platzeck objected the expulsion of Russian diplomats by western nations and doubted the findings of the United Kingdoms security services.[4] Later that year, he was awarded theOrder of Friendship in a ceremony held in the Russian embassy in Berlin.[4]
In 2019, Platzeck was appointed by theFederal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community to chair the committee that oversaw the preparations for the 30th anniversary ofGerman reunification.[8]
In late 2020, Platzeck was appointed as arbitrator in a conflict betweenCharité and theUnited Services Trade Union (ver.di);[9] negotiations were successfully concluded by February 2021.[10] Following her election asGoverning Mayor of Berlin in September 2021,Franziska Giffey mandated Platzeck with helping to end a six-weeks long strike ofVivantes Hospital Group employees.[11][12]
Platzeck was nominated by his party as delegate to theFederal Conventions for the purpose of electing thePresident of Germany in2022.[13]
In addition, Platzeck held a variety of paid and unpaid positions, including the following:
Platzeck caused controversy in August 2010 when he called thereunification of Germany on 3 October 1990 anAnschluss, the word used byAdolf Hitler to defend the Naziannexation ofAustria in 1938. In response,ChancellorAngela Merkel rejected Platzeck's choice of words and argued that reunification was precisely what east Germans had wanted, not a process forced upon them.[21]
On 18 November 2014, Platzeck called for the international legitimization of theannexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, drawing criticism.[22] He has revised his opinion. His comparison (2016) of the deployment of theBundeswehr toLithuania as part of theNATO Enhanced Forward Presence withOperation Barbarossa was also criticized.[23]
Hannes Adomeit criticised in 2020 Platzeck's book about Russia .[24]
He was listed in a 2022 article byPolitico among 12 Germans who got played byVladimir Putin.[25]
Citing airline records a July 2025 article byFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung claimed that Platzeck since 2022 had traveled to Moscow at least nine times for clandestine negotiations of gas deals with Russia. Citing personal privacy, Platzeck declined to comment.[26]
From 1978 to 1984, Platzeck was married to Ute Bankwitz with whom he has three daughters. In 2007, he married Jeanette Jesorka. The ceremony took place one year later inTemmen-Ringenwalde, with guests includingFrank-Walter Steinmeier,Günther Jauch andAndreas Dresen.
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| Preceded by | Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 2005-2006 | Succeeded by |
Chairmen of theSocial Democratic Party of Germany | ||
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| SPD (1890–1933) |
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| SPD-in-exile (1933–1945) |
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| SPD (since 1945) |
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| Federal Republic of Germany (since 1990) |  | |
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