Michael Kretschmer | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 Kretschmer in 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy Leader of the Christian Democratic Union | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 31 January 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader | Friedrich Merz | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Volker Bouffier | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister-President of Saxony | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 13 December 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Petra Köpping | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Stanislaw Tillich | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of the Christian Democratic Union ofSaxony | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 9 December 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| General Secretary | Alexander Dierks | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Barbara Klepsch Christian Hartmann Thomas Schmidt | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Stanislaw Tillich | ||||||||||||||||||||
| General Secretary of the Christian Democratic Union ofSaxony | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 1 December 2004 – 9 December 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader | Georg Milbradt Stanislaw Tillich | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Hermann Winkler | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Alexander Dierks | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Michael Kretschmer (1975-05-07)7 May 1975 (age 50) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Christian Democratic Union (since 1989) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence(s) | Dresden-Klotzsche Waltersdorf | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | michaelkretschmer | ||||||||||||||||||||
Michael Kretschmer (born 7 May 1975) is a German politician of theChristian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving asMinister President of Saxony since December 2017.[1] Since 2022, he has been one of four deputy chairs of the CDU, under the leadership of chairmanFriedrich Merz.[2]
From2002 to 2017 Kretschmer was a member of theBundestag as directly elected representative forGörlitz. He first served on the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment. In the negotiations to form acoalition government underChancellorAngela Merkel following the2009 federal elections, he was a member of the working group on economic affairs and energy, led byAnnette Schavan andAndreas Pinkwart.[3]
From 2009 to 2017 Kretschmer was one of the vice chairs of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, under the leadership of chairmanVolker Kauder.[4] During his time in parliament, he was also of the German-Russian Parliamentary Friendship Group and the German-Polish Parliamentary Friendship Group.
In the negotiations to form aGrand Coalition ofChancellorAngela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU together with the BavarianCSU) and the SPD following the2013 federal elections, Kretschmer led the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on cultural and media affairs; his counterpart of the SPD wasKlaus Wowereit. Over the following years, he co-chaired the CDU's national conventions inKarlsruhe (2015),[5]Essen (2016)[6] and Berlin (2018).[7]
Kretschmer lost reelection in2017 toTino Chrupalla of theAfD.[8][9]
On 18 October 2017,Stanislaw Tillich announced his resignation as Minister President of Saxony and suggested that Kretschmer should replace him.[10] He is only the fourth and also the youngest person to hold that office.[8]
As one of Saxony's representatives at theBundesrat, Kretschmer has been serving as member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs since 2017. In addition, he is a member of the German-Russian Friendship Group set up in cooperation withRussia'sFederation Council.
In the negotiations to form afourth cabinet under Merkel following the2017 federal elections, Kretschmer co-chaired the working group on transport and infrastructure, alongsideAlexander Dobrindt andSören Bartol.
In December 2021,ZDF journalists discovered a plot byanti-vaccine andanti-lockdown extremists to assassinate Kretschmer, which led to an investigation by Saxon police and searchings for weapons through several houses inDresden.[11][12]
Since 2022, Kretschmer, alongsideKarl-Josef Laumann, has been chairing a working group in charge of drafting policies on social security for the CDU's newparty platform.[13]
He was re-elected following the2024 Saxony state election.[14]
In June 2017, Kretschmer voted against Germany's introduction ofsame-sex marriage.[22]
In June 2019, Kretschmer called for the lifting ofEU sanctions against Russia.[23] This was immediately rejected by CDU chairwomanAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.[24] Later that year, Kretschmer met withRussian presidentVladimir Putin at theSt. Petersburg International Economic Forum.[23]
He was opposed to restrictions during the beginning of theCOVID-19 pandemic and even attended an anti-lockdown demonstration, but changed his mind and apologised in December 2020. In November 2021 he disagreed withFederal Minister of HealthJens Spahn on ending the nationwide state of emergency.[12]
During theRusso-Ukrainian war in November 2025 Kretschmer stated, that after a ceasefire, Russian energy should be imported again by Germany. This caused backlash from CDU and SPD delegates alike.[25]
During his tenure as secretary general of the CDU in Saxony, Kretschmer faced criticism after reports surfaced in 2010 that personal meetings with party chairman and Minister-PresidentStanislaw Tillich were offered to potential corporate sponsors in exchange for donations.[26]
