German politician
A list of German politicians and party members by political party:
*List of Bavarian Christian Social Union politicians
*List of Bavarian People's Party politicians
* List of German Centre Party politicians
*List of German Christian Democratic Uni ...
German Bundestag
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
from 2017 to 2021. In addition, he has served on the
Halle (Saale)
Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the Germany, German States of ...
municipal council since 2014.
Education and early career
Bernstiel studied
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
and
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
Magister Artium
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
. From 2010 to 2017, he worked at the multimedia centre Mitteldeutsches Multimediazentrum Halle (Saale), initially as PR officer and later as head of communications.
While working, Bernstiel took a compact study course at the German Press Academy (depak) from 2010 to 2012, graduating with a degree in communication management. In 2012, he founded the company KOBE PR. He has been a certified PR consultant since 2013, certified by the testing and certification organisation of the German communications industry PZOK.
Political career
Early beginnings
Bernstiel joined the CDU and the
Junge Union
The Junge Union Deutschlands (''Young Union of Germany'') or JU is the joint
youth organisation of the two conservative German political parties, CDU and CSU. Membership is limited to individuals between 14 and 35 years of age.
Junge Union clai ...
(JU), the youth section of the CDU, in 2005. In 2006, he became a member of the RCDS, the German Association of Christian Democratic Students. Bernstiel was elected chairman of the Bernburg county branch of the JU from 2006 to 2007 and, following administrative reform, chairman of the Salzland county branch of the JU from 2007 to 2011. From 2009 to 2011, he was commissioner for social policy in the federal executive of the JU. Bernstiel served as chairman of the North Halle (Saale) local branch of the CDU from 2013 to 2019. He has been on the
Halle (Saale)
Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the Germany, German States of ...
municipal council since 2014 and, since 2017, Member of the
Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...
for Halle (Saale),
Kabelsketal
Kabelsketal is a municipality in the Saalekreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated east of Halle (Saale). It was formed in 2004 out of the villages of Dieskau, Dölbau, Gröbers und Großkugel.Landsberg, and
Petersberg Petersberg may refer to:
* The Hotel Petersberg near Bonn, the site of the
** Petersberg Agreement, 1949, regarding the international status of West Germany.
** Petersberg tasks, 1992 and 1997, regarding European security cooperation. Also known a ...
after previously defeating several competitors within his own party. Since 2019 Bernstiel is head of the specialised committee on federal and European affairs of the
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of
and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...
CDU.
Member of the Bundestag
On 24 September 2017, Bernstiel was elected to the German Bundestag as a direct candidate with 27.1% of all first votes in the
Halle Halle may refer to:
Places Germany
* Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt
** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt
** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany
** Hall ...
constituency and northern Saale district going to the CDU. In parliament, he served on the Committee on Internal Affairs and Community and was a substitute member of the Study Commission "Artificial Intelligence – Social Responsibility and Economic, Social and Ecological Potential".
He was also a substitute member of the Committee on Cultural and Media Affairs and the Committee on Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. He was further a member of the working groups of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group on the economic development of the Eastern part of Germany, municipal policy, and young Members as well as a member of the SME Circle in the German Bundestag.
In addition, Bernstiel was a member of the German- Nordic, German-
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese and German-
Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
* Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
parliamentary friendship groups. He also served as deputy chair of the Bundestag group of CDU parliamentarians from Saxony-Anhalt, a member of the board of trustees of the Foundation for the Study of the SED Dictatorship and substitute member of the board of trustees of the Federal Agency for Civic Education.
In the field of internal affairs, Bernstiel's key areas are
IT security
Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, the ...
and cybersecurity and political extremism. Since early 2019, this also includes the critical review of security issues in building up the
5G network
In telecommunications, 5G is the fifth-generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks, which cellular phone companies began deploying worldwide in 2019, and is the planned successor to the 4G networks which provide connectiv ...
in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. His work focuses on securing the technological sovereignty of Germany and preventing the country from becoming dependent on individual manufacturers.
He is working to keep the participation of Chinese companies in the expansion of the 5G mobile network as low as possible to prevent manipulation or intervention in the national security of Germany.
Bernstiel also takes an active role against any form of extremism and politically motivated crime. Alongside these key areas, Bernstiel also works on the topics of counterintelligence,
international police
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
missions, and the
digital radio
Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services.
Types
In digital broadcasting syst ...
network for German security authorities and organizations. In the new allocation of frequencies, Bernstiel is working to ensure that security authorities and not the
energy industry
The energy industry is the totality of all of the industries involved in the production and sale of energy, including fuel extraction, manufacturing, refining and distribution. Modern society consumes large amounts of fuel, and the energy indu ...
are allotted the 450 MHz band.
Career in local politics
Christoph Bernstiel was elected to the municipal council of Halle (Saale) in 2014. He was a member of the committee on planning affairs and the committee on human resources development until 2018. He is currently a member of the committee on order and environmental affairs and deputy chair of the committee on urban development. On 26 May 2019, Bernstiel was re-elected to the municipal council.