Erich Matthias Rößler (born 14 January 1955) is a German politician, member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Since 1990, he has been a member of the Saxon Landtag. From 1994 to 2004 he served as minister of culture, later as minister of science and art in the government of Saxony. Since 2009 he has been "Landtagspräsident", the speaker of the Saxon parliament.

Career

Rößler was born in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, the son of a master gardener from the village of Cossebaude (now a western district of Dresden). He attended Christenlehre (Christian education) and refused to become a member of the socialist youth organizations, but was accepted nonetheless to a high school in the Dresden (today Romain-Rolland- Gymnasium), graduating in 1973 with the excellent grade 1.0. Because of his political abstinence, he was denied to study ethnography. He did the minimum service (Grundwehrdienst) in the

National People's Army The National People's Army (german: Nationale Volksarmee, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) an ...

and then studied mechanical engineering, graduating in 1979 with a diploma. He then worked as a research assistant at the University of Transport in Dresden. There he obtained his doctorate in 1983 with a dissertation ''Experimentelle Untersuchungen charakteristischer Strömungserscheinungen in einem speziellen geraden Gitter bei hochturbulenter Anströmung'' (Experimental investigations of characteristic flow phenomena in a special straight grate at highly turbulent flow). From 1985 to 1990, he was a development engineer and a senior researcher in the

Kombinat Combine (russian: Комбинат) is a term for industrial business groups, conglomerates or trusts in the former socialist countries. Examples include VEB Kombinat Robotron, an electronics manufacturer, and IFA, a manufacturer of vehicles ...

Lokomotivbau/Elektrotechnische Werke in

Hennigsdorf Hennigsdorf () is a town in the district of Oberhavel, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated north-west of Berlin, just across the city border, which is formed mainly by the Havel river. History The municipality shared its borders with the form ...

. From 1989, he also worked at the Academy of Sciences on topics of basic research. He is the holder of several patents and author of scientific publications.

Political career

In 1989, Rößler joined the opposition movement

Democratic Awakening Democratic Beginning (german: Demokratischer Aufbruch) was an East German political movement and political party that was active during the Revolutions of 1989 and in the period leading up to the German reunification. While it was a relatively ...

. He took over functions in the central party leadership in Berlin and was a science policy spokesman of the party. He also served on the group's state board of Saxony. In 1990, he was instrumental in forming the Ministry of Culture of the Free State of Saxony. He joined the CDU, which he represented in the parliament of Saxony. He was one of the initiators of the founding of the Hannah Arendt Institute for Research on Totalitarianism in Dresden, to explore totalitarian structures and their impact on individuals and society. From September 1994 to April 2002, Rößler was Saxon State Minister for Education, and was also the Chairman of the German Sportministerkonferenz (conference of sport ministers). From 18 April 2002 to 10 November 2004, he was Minister for Science and Art. On 16 September 2009, Rößler was nominated as successor of the retiring speaker of parliament

Erich Iltgen Erich Iltgen (10 July 1940 – 9 June 2019) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union. From 1990 to 2009, he was president of the Saxony state parliament, the Landtag of Saxony. Biography Early years Erich Iltgen was born in Co ...

and elected on 29 September with 82 votes out of 132. On 26 May 2005 he was awarded the Sächsische Verfassungsmedaille by Erich Iltgen for the "Mitgestaltung der Grundzüge der sächsischen Bildungspolitik" (participation in the founding structure of Saxon education policy). Since his election to as speaker of parliament, he has been a member of the Sächsischer Verdienstorden (Saxon Order of Merit). Rößler was a CDU delegate to the

Federal Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. Although the convention was intended to revise the league of states and first system of government under the Articles of Confederation, the intention fr ...

for the purpose of electing the

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...

in 2017. Ahead of the Christian Democrats’

leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...

in 2018, he publicly endorsed

Friedrich Merz Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz (born 11 November 1955) is a German lawyer and politician, serving as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 31 January 2022 and as leader of the Union parliamentary group as well as the Leader of ...

to succeed

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...

as the party’s chair.Matthias Puppe (4 December 2018)
Umfrage: Wie stimmen Sachsens Delegierte über den CDU-Vorsitz ab?
''

Leipziger Volkszeitung The ''Leipziger Volkszeitung'' or ''LVZ'' (German for ''Leipzig People's Newspaper'') is a daily regional newspaper in Leipzig and western Saxony, Germany. First published on 1 October 1894, the LVZ was formerly an important publication of the ...

''.

Personal life

Rößler is married since 1979 and has two sons.

References

External links

Official websiteMatthias Rößler at the Saxony Landtag website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossler, Matthias Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians Government ministers of Germany Politicians from Dresden 1955 births Living people Members of the Landtag of Saxony Ministers of the Saxony State Government Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Free State of Saxony