Jan Metzler (born 5 July 1981) is a German politician who represents the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in 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 ...

, the German federal parliament. Metzler was first elected in the 2013 election, gaining the constituency of

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany, a city **Worms (electoral district) *Worms, Nebraska, U.S. *Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy Arts and entertainme ...

, which had previously been held by the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

(SPD) since its creation in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

.Prognosen im Wahlkreis 207 Alzey-Worms: Das Lesen im Kaffeesatz
''Allgemeine Zeitung'', 19 September 2013

Early life and education

Metzler was born in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

in 1981. He came from a family of winemakersDie Interessen jenseits der Politik
''Allgemeine Zeitung'', 20 September 2013 and his sister had been German Wine Princess for 2007/2008. Like his father, he trained to be a winemaker and studied Business Administration, gaining an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

and a master's degree in International Management.

Political career

Prior to his election to the Bundestag, Metzler had held a number of roles in his local party, serving as a member of the CDU District Executive for

Alzey-Worms Alzey-Worms () is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) the district Groß-Gerau (Hesse), the city of Worms and the districts of Bad Dürkheim, Donnersbergkreis, Bad Kreuznach and Mainz-Bingen. ...

from 2000 to 2008, on the CDU district board for

Rheinhessen-Pfalz Rheinhessen-Pfalz (rarely anglicized as "Rhine-Hesse-Palatinate") was one of the three ''Regierungsbezirke'' of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located in the south of the state. It was created in 1968 out of ''Regierungsbezirke'' Rheinhessen and ...

from 2001 onwards and as District Chairman of the Alzey-Worms branch of the CDU from 2003 to 2012.Biography at Germany Bundestag site
, accessed 29 November 2013 His first public role came in 2004, when he was elected to Alzey-Worms district council. Since 2004 he has served as Deputy Chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in the

Westhofen Westhofen is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location Westhofen lies between Worms (r ...

collective municipal council and Chairman of the CDU faction in the

Dittelsheim-Heßloch Dittelsheim-Heßloch (or ''Dittelsheim-Hessloch'') is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Loc ...

council. In addition to serving as a local councillor, Metzler subsequently spent five years as the international coordinator at the University of Applied Sciences of Worms and was responsible for supervising the student foreign exchange programs.Rheinhessen: Jan Metzler geht für die CDU ins Rennen um Bundestagsmandat im Wahlkreis 207
''Allgemeine Zeitung'', 29 November 2012 He was selected as the CDU candidate for Worms in November 2012. For the 2013 election, in addition to being a candidate for Worms, Metzler had been placed eleventh on the CDU list for

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

In the election, he increased the CDU vote share by 7% on an increased turnout and beat his SPD challenger Marcus Held. In parliament, Metzler serves on the Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy as well as on its Subcommittee on Regional Economic Development.

Other activities

University of Applied Sciences, Worms Worms University of Applied Sciences ( German: ''Hochschule Worms'') is a business and technology-oriented university of applied sciences in Worms, Germany. Around 3700 students are taught in 38 degree programmes by 74 professors and around 100 ...

, Member of the Advisory Board on International Management

Political positions

During the election campaign, Metzler opposed income tax rises and the creation of a national

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

, arguing that

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The i ...

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

s was a better way to achieve minimum wage standards than have it set by politicians. He also called for greater support for middle-class people and opposed further increases in

inheritance tax An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died. International tax law distinguishes between an es ...

. In June 2017, Metzler voted against his parliamentary group’s majority and in favor of Germany’s introduction of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

.Diese Unionsabgeordneten stimmten für die Ehe für alle
''

Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...

'', 30 June 2017.

References

External links

Metzler's personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Metzler, Jan 1961 births Living people Members of the Bundestag for Rhineland-Palatinate People from Worms, Germany Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany