Wolfgang Tiefensee | |
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| Minister of Economics, Science and Digital Society of Thuringia | |
| Assumed office 4 March 2020 | |
| Minister President | Bodo Ramelow |
| Preceded by | Himself |
| In office 5 December 2014 – 5 February 2020 | |
| Minister President | Bodo Ramelow |
| Preceded by | Uwe Höhn |
| Succeeded by | Himself |
| Deputy Minister President of Thuringia | |
| In office 4 March 2020 – 31 August 2021 | |
| Minister President | Bodo Ramelow |
| Preceded by | Heike Taubert |
| Succeeded by | Georg Maier |
| Leader of theSocial Democratic Party inThuringia | |
| In office 11 March 2018 – 26 September 2020 | |
| Deputy | Antje Hochwind Diana Lehmann Cornelia Klisch Sven Schrade |
| Preceded by | Andreas Bausewein |
| Succeeded by | Georg Maier |
| Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs | |
| In office 22 November 2005 – 27 October 2009 | |
| Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
| Preceded by | Manfred Stolpe |
| Succeeded by | Peter Ramsauer |
| Mayor of Leipzig | |
| In office 1 July 1998 – 22 November 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Hinrich Lehmann-Grube |
| Succeeded by | Burkhard Jung |
| Member of theLandtag of Thuringia | |
| In office 26 November 2019 – 4 December 2019 | |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Hartung |
| Constituency | Social Democratic List |
| Member of theBundestag forSaxony | |
| In office 27 October 2009 – 11 December 2014 | |
| Succeeded by | Detlef Müller |
| Constituency | Social Democratic List |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1955-01-04)4 January 1955 (age 70) |
| Political party | SPD |
| Profession | Engineer |
| Website | wolfgang-tiefensee |
Wolfgang Tiefensee (born 4 January 1955) is a German politician of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD). He was theFederal Minister for Transport, Building and Urban Development in thegrand coalition cabinet led byAngela Merkel between 2005 and 2009. Since 2014, he has been the State Minister of Economy, Science and the Digital Society in the government ofThuringia'sMinister-PresidentBodo Ramelow.
Originally anelectrical engineer, Tiefensee turned to politics in 1989, during the democratization process of theGerman Democratic Republic. He became a member of theSPD in 1995.[1]
Tiefensee was electedmayor of Leipzig in 1998, and was re-elected with 67.1% of the vote in April 2005.[2] Before 2005, he declined offers of a position in the federal government, stating his place was in Leipzig.[3]
As mayor, he put great effort intoLeipzig's bid to host the2012 Olympic Games. While Leipzig unexpectedly won the campaign to tender the German bid,[4] the middle-sized city did not get past the first round of the international competition, which was in fact won byLondon.
In 2002, Tiefensee was part of the 15-member commission that developed the so-calledHartz reforms, a set of recommendations to reform theGerman labour market as part ofchancellorGerhard Schröder’sAgenda 2010. Later that year, following the2002 federal elections, he declined Schröder’s offer to join his government.[5]
In 2007, Tiefensee chaired talks following which EU transport ministers agreed unanimously to end talks with a private consortium contracted to develop theGalileo satellite navigation system and to spend €2.4 billion ($3.2 billion) to build it themselves instead.[6]
Also during his tenure as Germany's transport minister, Tiefensee announced the little-known architect Francesco Stella as the winner of a competition to find an architectural design for the controversial reconstruction of theBerlin Stadtschloss in 2008.[7]
In 2012, Tiefensee succeededGarrelt Duin as spokesperson of the SPD parliamentary group on economic affairs. In the negotiations to form aGrand Coalition of chancellorAngela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU together with the BavarianCSU) and the SPD following the2013 federal elections, he was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on economic policy, led byIlse Aigner andHubertus Heil.
Tiefensee resigned from his seat in parliament when he became State Minister of Economy, Science and the Digital Society in the government ofThuringia'sMinister-PresidentBodo Ramelow in 2014. As one of the state's representatives at theBundesrat, he serves on the Committee on Cultural Affairs and on the Committee on Economic Affairs.
In early 2018, Tiefensee was elected chairman of the SPD in Thuringia, succeedingAndreas Bausewein. He was confirmed in the November 2018 party conference.[8]
In May 2020, Tiefensee announced that he would not stand in thenext Thuringian state election but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.[9]
Tiefensee, whose father was the musician and conductorSiegfried Tiefensee, is also known for playing thecello, a talent that he successfully incorporated into Leipzig's Olympic bid. His brother,Eberhard Tiefensee [de], is aCatholic priest and was professor oftheology at theUniversity of Erfurt from 1997 to 2018.
Media related toWolfgang Tiefensee at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
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