Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel

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Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel
Schäfer-Gümbel in 2020
Leader of the Social Democratic Party
Acting
In office
3 June 2019 – 1 October 2019
Serving with Malu Dreyer and Manuela Schwesig
General SecretaryLars Klingbeil
Preceded byAndrea Nahles
Succeeded bySaskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans
Leader of the Social Democratic Party in Hesse
In office
28 February 2009 – 1 October 2019
Preceded byAndrea Ypsilanti
Succeeded byNancy Faeser
Deputy Leader of the Social Democratic Party
In office
14 November 2009 – 1 October 2019
LeaderSigmar Gabriel
Martin Schulz
Andrea Nahles
Preceded byAndrea Nahles
Succeeded byKevin Kühnert
Member of the Hessian Landtag
In office
5 April 2003 – 1 October 2019
Personal details
Born (1969-10-01) 1 October 1969 (age 54)
Oberstdorf, West Germany
Political partySPD

Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel (né Schäfer; born 1 October 1969) is a former German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as member of the management board of GIZ since 2019.

Schäfer-Gümbel notably was the leader of the opposition SPD party bloc in the Hessian state parliament. He lost his bid for the office of Minister-President of Hesse in the January 2009 Hessian state election, where he had challenged incumbent Roland 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]

Early life and education[edit]

Schäfer-Gümbel was born to a West German soldier stationed in southern Bavaria, in Oberstdorf. However, he grew up in Gießen (Hesse). He briefly studied Agrarian Science at Justus-Liebig-University Gießen, after which he changed to Political Science. Supported by a scholarship of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, he graduated with a Master's degree in 1997, he took various minor political positions.

Career[edit]

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 the 2003 Landtag election. He gained a seat in 2003, and has been a member of the Hessian Landtag ever since. He was re-elected in the 2008 Landtag election and in the 2009 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 and Andrea 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 subsequent 2009 special election, which allowed the CDU's Roland 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 the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2017. He co-chaired the SPD’s national conventions in Berlin (2011)[3] Hanover (2012)[4] and Augsburg (2013).[5]

In the negotiations to form a Grand Coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) and the SPD following the 2013 federal elections, Schäfer-Gümbel was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on energy policy, led by Peter Altmaier and Hannelore 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 agency GIZ.[7] He had been appointed for the job by Andrea Nahles[8] and kept it until his promotion to GIZ Speaker of the Board in 2022.[9]

Personal life[edit]

Schäfer-Gümbel is married and has three children.[citation needed]

Other activities[edit]

Corporate boards[edit]

  • Helaba, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2009)
  • SV SparkassenVersicherung, Member of the Advisory Board (since 2015)

Non-profit organizations[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Germany's Ypsilanti Drops Race, Schaefer-Guembel to Lead Bid". Reuters. 8 November 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2008.
  2. ^ "SPD: Schäfer-Gümbel, Schwesig, Dreyer sollen Partei kommissarisch führen - DER SPIEGEL - Politik". Der Spiegel. 3 June 2019.
  3. ^ Protokoll des ordentlichen Bundesparteitages 2011, Berlin Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
  4. ^ Protokoll des außerordentlichen Bundesparteitages der SPD, 9. Dezember 2012 Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
  5. ^ Protokoll des außerordentlichen Bundesparteitages 2013, Augsburg Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
  6. ^ Die SPD in den Arbeitsgruppen Social Democratic Party of Germany, press release of 23 October 2013.
  7. ^ Susanne Höll (19 March 2019), SPD-Vize Schäfer-Gümbel verlässt die Politik Süddeutsche Zeitung.
  8. ^ ""Wenn ich eines nicht ausstehen kann, dann ist es Hochmut"" Zeit.de, 28 März 2019
  9. ^ "Schäfer-Gümbel wird neuer GIZ-Chef" Zeit.de, 14 September 2022
  10. ^ Bernd Westphal wird neuer Beirats-Vorsitzender beim Wirtschaftsforum der SPD Business Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Germany , press release of 7 June 2018.
  11. ^ Members Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES).
  12. ^ Organization Friends of the University of Giessen.

External links[edit]

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