Helmut Brandt (born 24 October 1950) is a German

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, member of the CDU, and Legal Counsel (''Justiziar'') for the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group. He has been a 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 ...

since 28 June 2005, when he replaced

Karl-Josef Laumann Karl-Josef Laumann (born 11 July 1957) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Since 2017, he has been the State Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia, an office he previously held between ...

, who had been appointed a minister in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

. Brandt, a lawyer by training specialising in criminal law, was mayor of Alsdorf in

from 1994 to 1999, having been a councillor there since 1978.

Life and work

After completing his

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

Herzogenrath Herzogenrath ( Ripuarian: ; li, Hertseraoj; nl, ’s-Hertogenrade) is a municipality in the district of Aachen in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It borders the Dutch town of Kerkrade, the national border in one section running along ...

, Brandt undertook his mandatory

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

before earning a degree in law from the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

. In Bonn, he became a member of the K.D.St.V. Novesia Bonn, a

Catholic fraternity While the traditional social fraternity is a well-established mainstay across the United States at institutions of higher learning, alternatives – in the form of social fraternities that require doctrinal and behavioral conformity to the Christ ...

. After completing a training period, he passed the second and final exam to become a lawyer and has, since that time, been active as a lawyer in Alsdorf, practicing

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

. Helmut Brandt is married and has two children.

Party

Brandt has belonged to the CDU since 1969 and is currently the Deputy Chairman of the CDU district association

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

Public office

Helmut Brandt belonged to the city council of Alsdorf from 1978 to 1994, where he was the local chairperson of the CDU until 1994. Helmut Brandt was mayor of Alsdorf from 1994 until 1999. Since 1999, he has been a member of the district council in the area surrounding Aachen. On 28 June 2005 Brandt took over Karl-Josepf Laumann's place in the

German Parliament 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 ...

. He is a member of the Home Affairs Committee in the German Parliament, which deals with immigration, national security, and public service. After the federal elections of 2005, Helmut Brandt entered Parliament through the

party lists. In the 2009 federal elections, he won a seat for the

Aachen II Aachen II 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 constituency 88. It is located ...

constituency (which includes the communities around Aachen, but not the city itself) with 40.2 percent of the primary vote. In the 2013 federal elections, Helmut Brandt defended his seat with 45.6 percent of the primary vote.

, 4. Oktober 2013
"Wahlkreise und Wahlergebnisse 2013 Wahlkreis 088 Aachen II"
/ref>

References

External links

Helmut Brandt's website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandt, Helmut 1950 births Living people People from Würselen German Roman Catholics University of Bonn alumni Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag 2002–2005 Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany