Norbert Lammert | |
|---|---|
 Lammert in 2014 | |
| Chair of theKonrad Adenauer Foundation | |
| Assumed office 1 December 2018 | |
| General Secretary | Michael Thielen |
| Preceded by | Hans-Gert Pöttering |
| President of the Bundestag | |
| In office 18 October 2005 – 24 October 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Wolfgang Thierse |
| Succeeded by | Wolfgang Schäuble |
| Vice President of the Bundestag (on proposal of the CDU/CSU-group) | |
| In office 17 October 2002 – 18 October 2005 | |
| President | Wolfgang Thierse |
| Preceded by | Rudolf Seiters |
| Succeeded by | Gerda Hasselfeldt |
| Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Transport | |
| In office 15 May 1997 – 26 October 1998 | |
| Chancellor | Helmut Kohl |
| Minister | Matthias Wissmann |
| Preceded by | Manfred Carstens |
| Succeeded by | Achim Großmann |
| Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry for Economic Affairs | |
| In office 17 November 1994 – 15 May 1997 | |
| Chancellor | Helmut Kohl |
| Minister | Günter Rexrodt |
| Preceded by | Reinhard Göhner |
| Succeeded by | Heinrich Leonhard Kolb |
| Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry for Education and Science | |
| In office 21 April 1989 – 17 November 1994 | |
| Chancellor | Helmut Kohl |
| Minister | Heinz Riesenhuber Matthias Wissmann |
| Preceded by | Irmgard Karwatzki |
| Succeeded by | Bernd Neumann |
| Member of theBundestag forNorth Rhine-Westphalia | |
| In office 4 November 1980 – 24 October 2017 | |
| Preceded by | multi-member district |
| Succeeded by | multi-member district |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1948-11-16)16 November 1948 (age 77) |
| Political party | Christian Democratic Union(1966–) |
| Spouse | Gertrud |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | Ruhr University Bochum |
| Occupation |
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| Signature |  |
| Website | Official website |
Norbert Lammert (born 16 November 1948) is a Germanpolitician of theChristian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as the 12thpresident of the Bundestag from 2005 to 2017.
The son of a baker,[1] Lammert attendedgymnasium inBochum where he studied classics. He obtained hisabitur in 1967. He carried out military service in theBundeswehr from 1967 to 1969. Following his military service he went on to theRuhr University Bochum, which included a period abroad at theUniversity of Oxford, where he studiedpolitical science andmodern history. He went on and obtained his doctorate (Dr. rer. soc.) from theRuhr University Bochum in 1975.
Having joined the CDU in 1966, he was deputy chairman of the Bochum branch of the CDU. From 1978–1984, he was deputy leader of a part (Westfalen-Lippe) of theNorth Rhine-Westphalian branch of theJunge Union, the CDU youth organization. In the1980 national elections, he was elected to theBundestag and had kept his mandate continuously until stepping down in 2017. During his tenure in the Bundestag he served (as usual for all MPs) on several committees.[2]
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Following the2005 federal elections in which the CDU became the strongest party and formed agrand coalition with theSocial Democratic Party (SPD), Lammert was elected by the Bundestag on 18 October 2005 to replaceWolfgang Thierse of the SPD as itsPresident. Lammert received 564 of 607 votes cast, including most of the SPD's votes. He was reelected to this post by the 17th Bundestag after the2009 federal election with a similarly good result. In his capacity as president, he chairs the parliament’sCouncil of Elders, which – among other duties – determines daily legislative agenda items and assigning committee chairpersons based on party representation. Lammert's tenure in office gained him recognition across party lines as he was determined to uphold the honor and importance of the federal parliament while at the same time displaying a dry, sophisticated sense of humor most notably in exchanges with then-chairmen ofDie LinkeGregor Gysi.
In the negotiations to form aGrand Coalition of the Christian Democrats (CDU together with the BavarianCSU) and the SPD following the2013 federal elections, Lammert was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on cultural and media affairs, led byMichael Kretschmer andKlaus Wowereit.
WhenFederal PresidentJoachim Gauck announced in June 2016 that he would not stand for reelection, Lammert was soon mentioned by German and international media as likely successor.[3][4]
In October 2016, Lammert announced that he would not stand in the2017 federal elections and resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.[5]
In 2018, Lammert took on the role of chairman of theKonrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS).
Since 2022, following an appointment byChancellorOlaf Scholz, Lammert has been serving on a three-member panel (alongsideKrista Sager andAndreas Voßkuhle) to assess potential conflicts of interest, requiring senior German officials from the chancellor to deputy ministers to observe a cooling-off period if they want to quit the government for a job in business.[6]
Throughout his tenure, Lammert has not shied from speaking out against the government about potential threats to parliament's role.[7] He became widely respected for upholding parliamentarians' rights, including leading the way in condemning the1915 Armenian massacres as a Turkish genocide in 2016.[8] In 2011, he questioned why the Bundestag had not been consulted on ChancellorAngela Merkel's decision to close all nuclear plants followingFukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.[9] He has insisted that members of parliament be consulted fully on the bailout schemes for theeuro zone debt crisis.[10]
In 2012, Lammert said he wants afinancial transaction tax to be introduced in as many countries as possible, “at least” in theEurozone.[11] Later that year, he demanded that the EU not take in new members for the time being because of theEuropean debt crisis and also expressed doubts thatCroatia was ready to join;[12] Croatia eventually joined the EU in 2013.
Following theCharlie Hebdo shooting in 2015, Lammert criticizedSaudi Arabia for condemning the Paris attacks as a violation of Islam, "then two days later letting the bloggerRaif Badawi be flogged in public in Jeddah for insulting Islam".[13] Ahead ofEgyptian presidentAbdel Fattah el-Sisi's first official visit to Germany in June 2015, Lammert announced that he would not meet the former army chief, citing "an unbelievable number of death sentences".[14]
In February 2016, Lammert visited theZaatari refugee camp inJordan to learn more about the plight ofSyrians fleeing the violence in the ongoingSyrian civil war that erupted in 2011.[15]
In June 2017, Lammert voted against Germany’s introduction ofsame-sex marriage.[16]
In December 2010, Lammert imposed on the CDU a fine of 1.2 million euros ($1.6 million) for breaching party donation rules, for party funding violations in the western state ofRhineland-Palatinate at the time of theregional election in 2006.[17]
In July 2013, an anonymous internet blogger, using the name of Robert Schmidt, accused Lammert of having plagiarized other works when writing his dissertation.[18] Lammert rejected this reproach and asked the University of Bochum to check his dissertation; he also published it via internet. High-ranking politicians of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD) and of theGerman Green Party underlined that there should be no condemnation(s) in advance.[19]In November 2013 the university finished a thorough investigation and came to the conclusion that, although the dissertation contained "avoidable shortcomings in the citations", those did not constitute plagiarism.[20]
Lammert is member of theCatholic Church.[29] He is married to Gertrud and has four children.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | President of the Bundestag 2005–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of theKonrad Adenauer Foundation 2018–present | Incumbent |
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| Other | |
