Dagmar Gabriele Wöhrl (''née'' Winkler; born 5 May 1954) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). She has served as Chairwoman of the Committee for Economic Cooperation and Development of the German Bundestag. She was also a member of the 'Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with Arabic-Speaking States' in the Middle East. Wöhrl is the member of UNICEF National Committee of Germany.

Early life and career

Born in Stein, Bavaria, Wöhrl represented Germany in various beauty pageants: the 1973 Miss Universe beauty pageant where she did not place; the Miss International 1977 beauty pageant where she placed as first runner-up; the

Miss World 1977 Miss World 1977, the 27th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 17 November 1977 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, UK. The winner was Mary Ann-Catrin Stävin from Sweden. She was crowned by Miss World 1976, Cindy Breakspeare of Jama ...

beauty pageant (after she won the

Miss Germany Miss Germany is a national beauty pageant in Germany. The contest was held for the first time in 1927. History In the past there were several organisations which claimed the title: In the 1920s already, German jurisdiction decided that the tit ...

beauty pageant 1977) where she placed as second runner-up; and the 1977 Miss Europe beauty pageant (held in March 1978 having been postponed in 1977, yet still called Miss Europe 1977) where she placed as first runner-up.

Political career

In 1994, 1998, 2002, 2005, 2009 and 2013, Wöhrl was elected to the German

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 ...

, representing

Nuremberg North Nuremberg North (german: Nürnberg-Nord) is an electoral constituency (German: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as co ...

. In the first government of Chancellor Angela Merkel between 2005 and 2009, she 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 of Economics and Technology 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 ...

under ministers

Michael Glos Michael Glos (born 14 December 1944) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union (CSU) who served as Minister for Economics and Technology in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 22 November 2005 until 10 February 2009. Ea ...

(2005–2009) and Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (2009). 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 ...

following the 2009 federal elections, Wöhrl was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on economic affairs and energy policy, led by Guttenberg and

Rainer Brüderle Rainer Brüderle (born 22 June 1945) is a German politician and member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). He served as Minister of Economics and Transport of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1987–1998. On 28 October 2009, he was appointed Federal M ...

. She later served as Chairwoman of the Committee for Economic Cooperation and Development of the German Bundestag. She was also a member of the 'Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with Arabic-Speaking States' in the Middle East, which is in charge of maintaining inter-parliamentary relations with Bahrain, Irak, Yemen, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and the

Palestinian territories The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The I ...

. From 2009, Wöhrl also served on the Committee on Cultural and Media Affairs, where she was her parliamentary group's rapporteur on creative industries. In March 2015, Wöhrl accompanied German President Joachim Gauck on a state visit to Peru. In addition, she joined the delegations of Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development

Gerd Müller Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional footballer. A striker renowned for his clinical finishing, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalsco ...

to Nigeria (2014), Ghana (2015), Liberia (2015) and the Central African Republic (2015). In April 2016, Wöhrl announced that she would not stand in the 2017 federal elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.

Political positions

Development policy

When several Western countries froze their

official development assistance Official development assistance (ODA) is a category used by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to measure aid, foreign aid. The DAC first adopted the concept in ...

for Uganda in response to the country's Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2014, Wöhrl warned that "stopping all the aid would only hit the poorest of poor once again."

Peace-keeping on the African continent

During her time in parliament, Wöhrl voted in favor of German participation in United Nations peacekeeping missions as well as in United Nations-mandated European Union peacekeeping missions on the African continent, such as in Somalia – both

Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta, formally European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia, is a current counter-piracy military operation at sea off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean, that is the first naval operation conducted by the E ...

and

EUTM Somalia The European Union Training Mission Somalia (EUTM Somalia) is a training operation for the Somali Armed Forces conducted by military officials from European Union states. Operations On 10 April 2010, the European Union launched a military traini ...

– (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015), Darfur/Sudan (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015),

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...

(2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015), Mali – both

EUTM Mali EUTM Mali (European Union Training Mission in Mali) is a European Union multinational military training mission headquartered in Bamako, Mali. 22 EU members (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece ...

and

MINUSMA The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (, MINUSMA) is a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali. MINUSMA was established on 25 April 2013 by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2100 to stabilise t ...

– (2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016), the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

(2014), and

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

(2015). She abstained from the vote on extending the mandate for Operation Atalanta in 2011.

European integration

On 27 February 2015, Wöhrl voted against the Merkel government's proposal for a four-month extension of Greece's bailout; in doing so, she joined a record number of 29 dissenters from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group who expressed skepticism about whether the Greek government under

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Alexis Tsipras Alexis Tsipras ( el, Αλέξης Τσίπρας, ; born 28 July 1974) is a Greek politician serving as Leader of the Official Opposition since 2019. He served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2015 to 2019. Tsipras has led the Coalition of th ...

could be trusted to deliver on its reform pledges. On 17 July, she voted against the government's proposal to negotiate a third bailout for Greece.

Other activities

Television appearances

By early 2017, media reported that Wöhrl would be joining the jury of ''

Die Höhle der Löwen ''Dragons' Den'' is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it is k ...

'', a VOX reality television format featuring entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas in order to secure investment finance from a panel of venture capitalists.

Corporate boards (selection)

* Bank J. Safra Sarasin, Member of the Supervisory Board * DORMERO Hotel AG, Member of the Supervisory Board * Nürnberger Krankenversicherung, Member of the Supervisory Board * Nürnberger Lebensversicherung, Member of the Supervisory Board * GIZ, Member of the Supervisory Board (–2017) *

Deutschlandradio Deutschlandradio (DLR) (''Radio Germany'') is a national German public radio broadcaster. History ''Deutschlandfunk'' was originally a West German news radio targeting listeners within West Germany as well as in neighbouring countries, ''Deutsc ...

, Member of the Supervisory Board (–2017) * German Federal Film Board (FFA), Member of the Supervisory Board (–2017) * German Investment and Development Corporation (DEG), Member of the Supervisory Board (2005–2009) * Bank Sarasin AG, Frankfurt/Main, Member of the Advisory Board (2009–2013) * Nürnberger Allgemeine Versicherungs-AG, Member of the Supervisory Board (2009–2011)

Non-profit organizations (selection)

* German Association for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (BVMW), Member of the Advisory Board * Cultural and Social Foundation International Young Orchestra Academy, Member of the Board of Trustees * Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Nuremberg, Member of the General Meeting *

Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg The Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg (formerly ''Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg-Augsburg'') is a music conservatoire based in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. The conservatoire has a secondary building in Augsburg. The Hochschule The Hochschule für ...

, Member of the University Council *

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (german: Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas), also known as the Holocaust Memorial (German: ''Holocaust-Mahnmal''), is a memorial in Berlin to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, designed by arc ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees * Tarabya Academy, Member of the Advisory Board (–2017) *

Center for European Economic Research Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

(ZEW), Member of the Board of Trustees (2005–2009) *

Aktion Deutschland Hilft Aktion Deutschland Hilft e.V. – Bündnis deutscher Hilfsorganisationen (ADH) (Campaign Germany helps association - alliance of German aid organisations) is a connection of German aid agencies for humanitarian aid, with the target of helping fa ...

(Germany's Relief Coalition), Member of the Board of Trustees (–2017) * UNICEF National Committee of Germany, MemberGeneral Assembly of Members
UNICEF Deutschland. * Bavarian AIDS Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees *

Franconian International School The Franconian International School (FIS) is an international school based in Erlangen serving the Nuremberg metropolitan area community in Germany. History The Franconian International School (FIS) was founded in 1998 to serve the needs of a ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees (2009–2013)

Personal life

Wöhrl is the wife of German

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Hans Rudolf Wöhrl. In 2001, she was subject of much media coverage after her younger son Emanuel died because of an accident. Her older son Marcus ran for the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

in 2004.

References

External links