Christian Hirte (born 23 May 1976) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as member of the German Bundestag since 2008. Since 2020, he has been the chairman of CDU in Thuringia.
From 2018 to 2020, Hirte served as
Parliamentary State Secretary A Parliamentary State Secretary (') is a member of the Bundestag given a portfolio to assist a Minister with running a government ministry. The position is roughly analogous to deputy ministers.
In 2021, there are 36 parliamentary state secretarie ...
in the
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (german: Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz, ), abbreviated BMWK (was BMWi), is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was previously known as ...
and additionally as commissioner of the federal government for the
new states New states may refer to:
Creating new sovereign states (countries)
*List of proposed state mergers to create new sovereign states
*Lists of active separatist movements
*List of historical separatist movements
Creating new administrative subdivisio ...
Chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
Hirte studied law at the University of Jena with a scholarship from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and passed the first state examination in 2001 and the second in 2003. In 2004 he became an associate in the law firm Dr. Muth & Partner in
Fulda
Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival.
History ...
, and specialized in tax law.
Political career
Hirte joined the centre-right Junge Union in 1993 and the CDU in 1995.
Hirte has been a member of the Bundestag since 2008. In parliament, he has served on the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (2008-2013), the Committee on Tourism (2009-2013), the Budget Committee (2013-2017) and the Audit Committee (2013-2017). On the Budget Committee, he was his parliamentary group's rapporteur on the annual budget of the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
In the negotiations to form a
coalition government
A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
under the leadership of
Chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
Angela Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, Hirte was part of the CDU delegation. Following the formation of the government, he became Parliamentary State Secretary under the leadership of minister
Peter Altmaier
Peter Altmaier (born 18 June 1958) is a German lawyer and CDU politician who served as Acting Minister of Finance from 2017 to 2018 and as Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy from 2018 to 2021. He previously served as Federal Mi ...
. As federal commissioner for the new states, he advocated increased focus on rehabilitating and compensating victims of the
East German Communist Party
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...
.
For the
2021 elections
Many elections occurred in 2021. The National Democratic Institute maintains calendar of elections around the world
* 2021 United Nations Security Council election
* 2021 national electoral calendar
* 2021 local electoral calendar Africa
* 2021 ...
, Hirte was elected to lead the CDU campaign in Thuringia. Following the elections, he unsuccessfully ran for a position as one of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group’s deputy chairs; in an internal vote, he lost against
Sepp Müller
Sepp Müller (born 22 January 1989) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Saxony-Anhalt since 2017.
Political ca ...
.
Thuringia affair
Hirte was removed from his office as Parliamentary State Secretary and commissioner for the new states after he posted a congratulatory message on Twitter to FDP politician
Thomas Kemmerich
Thomas Karl Leonard Kemmerich (born 20 February 1965) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as the Minister President of Thuringia from 5 February to 4 March 2020. With a tenure of only 28 days, he was both the sho ...
for his election as Minister-President in Hirte's home state of Thuringia. Kemmerich had been elected with the votes of the CDU, the FDP and the AfD, marking the first time a Minister-President has been elected with the votes of the AfD. Due to AfD's involvement, the election was widely condemned, including by Chancellor Merkel and CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. Hirte's dismissal was condemned by the
In June 2017, Hirte voted against Germany’s introduction of same-sex marriage.
Ahead of the Christian Democrats’ leadership election in 2021, Hirte expressed support for a candidacy of Ralph Brinkhaus. In the run-up to the Christian Democrats’ leadership election in 2022, he publicly endorsed Friedrich Merz to succeed Armin Laschet as the party’s chair.
Personal life
Hirte is Catholic, married and has three children.christian-hirte.de /ref>