Andreas Geisel (born 1 March 1966) is a German politician of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(SPD) who is serving as Senator for Urban Development, Construction and Housing in the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

state government since December 2021. Prior, he was Senator for Interior and Sport from 2016 to 2021, and Senator for Urban Development and Environment from 2014 to 2016.

Early life and education

Geisel was born 1 March 1966 in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

. Geisel attended a polytechnic secondary school in East Berlin between 1972 and 1982. Between 1985 and 1986 Geisel worked a telecommunications technician at the East German Postal Service. From 1986 until 1990 he attended the College of Transportation Friedrich List in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

and studied Economics in regard to the media industry. He then worked for

Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (; short form often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a German telecommunications company that is headquartered in Bonn and is the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. Deutsche Telekom was ...

in Berlin from 1990 till 1992. He then worked for

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

as a consultant from 1994 until 1995.

Political career

Early beginnings

In the GDR Geisel was a member of the SED. After

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

in 1990 Geisel became a member of the SPD. In 1995 he was elected borough councillor in the Berlin borough of Lichtenberg, an office he held until 2000 and then after the redistricting again but this time for the borough of Lichtenberg-Hohenschönhausen. In the 2009 national elections, Geisel ran for a seat in the Federal Parliament in the Lichtenberg constituency, he came in second with 18.4% of the vote. On 10 November 2011, Geisel was elected Mayor of Lichtenberg with the support of the CDU and Alliance 90/The Greens. He was mayor until he was appointed to the Berlin Senate in 2014.

Senator of Berlin

In 2014, Geisel was appointed Senator for Urban Development and the Environment by new Governing Mayor of Berlin Michael Müller. After the

2016 Berlin state election The 2016 Berlin state election was held on 18 September 2016 to elect the members to the 18th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin. The incumbent grand coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was defeated, with bo ...

, Geisel remained in the Senate, taking the portfolio of Interior and Sport. As one of the state's representatives at the Bundesrat, he has been a member of the Committee on Internal Affairs and of the Defence Committee. He is also part of the Conference of Interior Ministers (IMK). During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, as stocks of protective gear like face mask become strained, nations have been competing with increased urgency over the short supplies. On April 3, Geisel accused

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

agents of appropriating a shipment of 200,000 face masks meant for German police from the airport in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

. However, these claims haven't been corroborated, and the whereabouts of the shipment remains unclear. In 2021, Geisel outlawed and dissolved Jama’atu Berlin, a

Salafist The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generati ...

association also known as Tauhid Berlin, saying the group was advocating terrorist attacks. After the

2021 Berlin state election The 2021 Berlin state election was held on 26 September 2021 to elect the 19th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin. The incumbent government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), The Left, and The Greens led by Governing Mayor Michael M� ...

, Geisel was appointed Senator for Urban Development, Construction and Housing in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

of new Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey.

Other activities (selection)

* Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2017) *

Olympiastadion Berlin The Olympiastadion (; en, Olympic Stadium) is a sports stadium at Olympiapark Berlin in Berlin, Germany. It was originally built by Werner March for the 1936 Summer Olympics. During the Olympics, the record attendance was thought to be over 10 ...

, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2016) * German Forum for Crime Prevention (DFK), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2016) * Business Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Member of the Political Advisory BoardPolitical Advisory Board
Business Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. * Friends of Mies van der Rohe Haus, Member

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geisel, Andreas 1966 births Living people Senators of Berlin Members of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians People from East Berlin 20th-century German politicians 21st-century German politicians