Siemtje Möller | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Möller in 2021 | |
| Parliamentary State Secretary for Defense | |
| In office 8 December 2021 – 6 May 2025 Serving with Thomas Hitschler | |
| Chancellor | Olaf Scholz |
| Minister | Christine Lambrecht Boris Pistorius |
| Preceded by | Thomas Silberhorn |
| Succeeded by | Nils Schmid andSebastian Hartmann |
| Member of theBundestag | |
| Assumed office 24 October 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Karin Evers-Meyer |
| Constituency | Friesland – Wilhelmshaven – Wittmund |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1983-07-20)20 July 1983 (age 42) |
| Political party | Social Democratic Party (since 2010) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Göttingen (BA) |
| Website | Official website |
Siemtje Victoria Regine Ilse Santjer Möller (German pronunciation:[ˈziːmtjəˈmœlɐ];[1] born 20 July 1983) is a German teacher and politician of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as a member of theBundestag from the state ofLower Saxony since the2017 elections.
In addition to her parliamentary work, Möller served asParliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Defence in thecoalition government ofChancellorOlaf Scholz from 2021 to 2025.[2] Since 2025, she has served as the deputy chair of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag. Möller is a member of theSeeheim Circle, the more right-leaning fraction of the SPD.[3]
Möller was born on 20 July 1983 inEmden,Lower Saxony,West Germany.[4] She spent her childhood in Emden and later moved toOldenburg, where she completed her secondary education at the Liebfrauenschulegymnasium, graduating in 2003.[5]
Möller initially enrolled atRWTH Aachen University in 2003, where she studied technical editing within the field of informatics and communication sciences.[5] In 2004, she transferred to theUniversity of Göttingen, where she pursued a teaching degree specializing in French, Spanish, and political science, completing her first state examination in 2011.
During her studies, she worked as a tutor at the Department of Political Science at the University of Göttingen. There, she developed and led an English-language interdisciplinary seminar on theUnited Nations Security Council, which earned her the Faculty of Social Sciences’ teaching award in the 2009/2010 winter semester.[6] Möller also completed internships at various international institutions, including theUnited Nations Headquarters inNew York, BBJ Consulting inBrussels, and theWorld Bank inWashington, D.C.[7]
Prior to the birth of her first son, she worked as a teacher in gymnasiums inBraunschweig,Berlin andWilhelmshaven.[8]
Möller became member of the Bundestag in the2017 German federal election, representing theFriesland – Wilhelmshaven – Wittmund district.[9] She served on the Defense Committee from 2018 until 2021, where she was her parliamentary group's spokesperson from 2020 until 2021.[10][11] In addition to her committee assignments, she co-chairs the German-Ukrainian Parliamentary Friendship Group.
Within her parliamentary group, Möller served as one of the three speakers of theSeeheim Circle (alongsideDirk Wiese andDagmar Ziegler) from 2020 to 2022; she succeededJohannes Kahrs in that position and was in turn followed byMarja-Liisa Völlers.[12]
In the negotiations to form a so-calledtraffic light coalition of the SPD, theGreen Party and theFree Democratic Party (FDP) following the2021 federal elections, Möller was part of her party's delegation in the working group on foreign policy, defence, development cooperation and human rights, co-chaired byHeiko Maas,Omid Nouripour andAlexander Graf Lambsdorff.[13] In the negotiations to form aGrand Coalition under the leadership ofFriedrich Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU together with the BavarianCSU) and the SPD following the2025 German elections, she was again part of the SPD delegation in the working group on foreign affairs, defense, development cooperation and human rights, this time led byJohann Wadephul,Florian Hahn andSvenja Schulze.[14]
Since 2025, Möller has been serving as deputy chair of her parliamentary group, under the leadership of chairmanMatthias Miersch. In this capacity, she oversees the group’s legislative activities on foreign affairs, defence, development cooperation, human rights and theCouncil of Europe.[15]
Möller married fellow teacher and SPD member Sören Mandel in 2018,[16] and the couple has two sons. They live together inVarel.[17]
