Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel | |
|---|---|
 Schäfer-Gümbel in 2020 | |
| Leader of the Social Democratic Party Acting | |
| In office 3 June 2019 – 1 October 2019 Serving withMalu Dreyer andManuela Schwesig | |
| General Secretary | Lars Klingbeil |
| Preceded by | Andrea Nahles |
| Succeeded by | Saskia Esken andNorbert Walter-Borjans |
| Leader of theSocial Democratic Party inHesse | |
| In office 28 February 2009 – 1 October 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Andrea Ypsilanti |
| Succeeded by | Nancy Faeser |
| Deputy Leader of theSocial Democratic Party | |
| In office 14 November 2009 – 1 October 2019 | |
| Leader | Sigmar Gabriel Martin Schulz Andrea Nahles |
| Preceded by | Andrea Nahles |
| Succeeded by | Kevin Kühnert |
| Member of the Hessian Landtag | |
| In office 5 April 2003 – 1 October 2019 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1969-10-01)1 October 1969 (age 55) Oberstdorf,West Germany |
| Political party | SPD |
Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel (né Schäfer; born 1 October 1969) is a former German politician of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as member of the management board ofGIZ since 2019.
Schäfer-Gümbel notably was the leader of the opposition SPD party bloc in theHessian state parliament. He lost his bid for the office ofMinister-President ofHesse in theJanuary 2009 Hessian state election, where he had challenged incumbentRoland Koch (CDU).[1]Schäfer-Gümbel served as deputy leader of the SPD from December 2013. He was one of three ad interim successors of former SPD leader Andrea Nahles in the transition phase.[2]
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Schäfer-Gümbel was born to a West German soldier stationed in southernBavaria, inOberstdorf. However, he grew up inGießen (Hesse). He briefly studied Agrarian Science atJustus-Liebig-University Gießen, after which he changed to Political Science. Supported by a scholarship of theFriedrich Ebert Foundation, he graduated with aMaster's degree in 1997, he took various minor political positions.
Schäfer-Gümbel was involved with the Social and Youth department of Gießen from the late 1990s. He became a local adviser to the SPD, a party which he had joined at the age of 17, and was also a local delegate of the SPD in the local government (Kreistag) in Gießen. He quickly moved up the ranks in the Hessian SPD party machine, and was a candidate on the SPD party list during the2003 Landtag election. He gained a seat in 2003, and has been a member of theHessian Landtag ever since. He was re-elected in the2008 Landtag election and in the2009 special election; however he was elected as part of the party list and not on a direct mandate, as he lost his local race to the CDU candidate.
In late 2008, following a political crisis andAndrea Ypsilanti's resignation, Schäfer-Gümbel became the SPD's party leader in Hesse and the SPD candidate for minister-president of Hesse. However, the SPD fared poorly in the subsequent2009 special election, which allowed the CDU'sRoland Koch to remain in office. Schäfer-Gümbel was the party leader of the opposition SPD from 29 January 2009.
Schäfer-Gümbel was a delegate to theFederal Convention for the purpose of electing thePresident of Germany in 2009, 2010, 2012 and2017. He co-chaired the SPD’s national conventions in Berlin (2011)[3]Hanover (2012)[4] andAugsburg (2013).[5]
In the negotiations to form aGrand Coalition ofChancellorAngela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU together with the BavarianCSU) and the SPD following the2013 federal elections, Schäfer-Gümbel was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on energy policy, led byPeter Altmaier andHannelore Kraft.[6]
In March 2019, Schäfer-Gümbel announced that he would resign from active politics by the end of the year and instead join the management board of German development agencyGIZ.[7] He had been appointed for the job byAndrea Nahles[8] and kept it until his promotion to GIZ Speaker of the Board in 2022.[9]
Schäfer-Gümbel is married and has three children.[citation needed]
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