Knut Friedrich Alexander Abraham (born 4 June 1966) is a German diplomat and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Since 2021, he has been a

Member of the German Bundestag Member of the German Parliament (german: Mitglied des Deutschen Bundestages) is the official name given to a deputy in the German Bundestag. ''Member of Parliament'' refers to the elected members of the federal Bundestag Parliament at the Reichs ...

Early life and education

Abraham was born and raised in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. After graduating from the Hansa-Gymnasium in

Bergedorf Bergedorf () is the largest of the seven boroughs of Hamburg, Germany, named after Bergedorf quarter within this borough. In 2020 the population of the borough was 130,994. History The city of Bergedorf received town privileges in 1275, then ...

in 1985, he was a contract soldier in the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

integrated service in

Brunssum Brunssum (; li, Broensem) is a municipality and a town in the province of Limburg in the Netherlands. The municipality of Brunssum has residents as of . Brunssum was a center of coal mining until 1973. Population centres Topography Histor ...

until 1987. He then studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at the

Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität 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 ...

and passed his first state examination in

at th
Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court
in 1993. After completing his legal clerkship at the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

, he passed his second state examination in law there in 1998.

Early career

From 1987 to 1996 Abraham served as office manager for

Otto von Habsburg Otto von Habsburg (german: Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius, hu, Ferenc József Ottó Róbert Mária Antal Károly Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Lajos Gaetan ...

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

and

. He was also his

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

assistant at 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 ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

from 1994. Abraham then attended the Federal Foreign Office's training center and had his first posting at the German

Embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

in the summer of 1999, where he passed Career Examination 1. From 2000 to 2003 he was First

Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

of the German Embassy in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

. He then moved to the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

as a

consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

in the

department until 2005. He then worked as a consultant in the

and

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

departments and went to the Federal Chancellery in 2006 as deputy head of the department for

global issues A global issue is a matter of public concern worldwide. This list of global issues presents problems or phenomena affecting people around the world, including but not limited to widespread social issues, economic issues, and environmental issues. ...

. In 2011 he was appointed Consul-General and Head of the Legal and Consular Department at the German Embassy in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. During this time he also regularly visited Jens Soering, a German citizen who had been imprisoned in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for many years.

Political career

Early beginnings

Abraham was a member of

Young Union The Junge Union Deutschlands (''Young Union of Germany'') or JU is the joint youth organisation of the two conservative Germany, German Political party, political parties, Christian Democratic Union of Germany, CDU and Christian Social Union in Ba ...

before joining the CDU in 1985. In

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Abraham ran unsuccessfully for the

Member of the German Parliament, 2021–present

In the

2021 German federal election Federal elections in Germany, Federal elections were held in Germany on 26 September 2021 to elect the members of the List of members of the 20th Bundestag, 20th Bundestag. States of Germany, State elections in 2021 Berlin state election, Berli ...

Abraham contested Elbe-Elster – Oberspreewald-Lausitz II, but was elected to the 20th German Bundestag via the state list. In parliament, he has since been serving on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid. In addition to his committee assignments, Abraham is a member of the German delegation to the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up o ...

(PACE). In the Assembly, he serves on the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights.

Personal life

Abraham lives in

Schönewalde Schönewalde is a town in the Elbe-Elster district, in southwestern Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 30 km south of Luckenwalde, and 40 km east of Wittenberg. History From 1815 to 1944, Schönewalde was part of the Prussian Province ...

, in the district of Dubro. He has five children and has been married to his wife Marion since 1996. He is of Evangelical Lutheran denomination.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abraham, Knut Living people 1966 births Politicians from Hamburg Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag for Brandenburg 21st-century German politicians 21st-century German diplomats German jurists Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany