Michael Ebling (born 27 January 1967) is a German politician of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

(SPD) who served as State Minister of the Interior in the government of Minister-President

Malu Dreyer Marie-Luise "Malu" Dreyer (born 6 February 1961) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has served as the 8th and current Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate since 13 January 2013. She is the first woman to hold th ...

of Rhineland-Palatinate since 2022. From 2012 to 2022, he was the mayor of

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

Early life and education

After passing the

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 ...

at Gonsbach-Gymnasium in 1986, Ebling served for 20 months in the civilian service, or

Zivildienst Zivildienst is the German denomination for the alternative civilian service for conscripted persons who are conscientious objectors to fulfill their national service, typically in the fields of social work (e.g. hospitals, retirement homes, em ...

, caring for the

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

. 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

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 stu ...

, and took on a political career as assistant to Klaus Hammer, member of the

Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate The Rhineland-Palatinate Landtag is the state diet of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Article 79, Section 1 of the Rhineland-Palatinate constitution provides: "The Landtag is the supreme organ of political decision-making, el ...

and chairman of the regional SPD. Later, he worked as an advisor to the ministry of education, science, and culture of the State of

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 ...

, joining the office of minister of State Jürgen Zöllner.

Political career

Ebling joined the SPD at the age of 16. He took an active part in the Mainz city council between 1994 and 2002, taking a lead position as his parliamentary group's spokesman for cultural affairs. He also was a member of the executive committee of his party's parliamentary group. Between 1995 and 2007 he was chairman of the SPD at Mombach, succeeding to Ursula Distelhut as a representative of the borough of Mainz-Mombach. Ebling was elected vice president of his party's parliamentary group in 1998, only to be chosen as president in November 2008. He was elected full-time deputy mayor for social affairs, youth, health and housing in 2002, after his predecessor

changed to the third

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 ...

of Minister-President

Kurt Beck Kurt Beck (born 5 February 1949) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who served as the 7th Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1994 to 2013 and as the 55th President of the Bundesrat in 2000/01. In May 2006, ...

. Since 2006, Ebling joined the office of

Doris Ahnen Doris Maria Ahnen is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as Minister for Finance in the state government of Rhineland-Palatinate since 2014. Prior to that she served as the Minister for Education, Re ...

as Secretary of State in the ministry of education, science, and culture of Rhineland-Palatinate. In this position he is member of the external advisory board of the Graduate School of Excellence – Materials Science in Mainz.

Mayor of Mainz

In a ballot on 25 March 2012 Michael Ebling was elected mayor of Mainz, gaining 58.2 percent of the votes cast against his competitor Günther Beck ( Alliance '90/The Greens) who came out second with 41.8 percent. Ebling was successful with an election programme putting social aspects and education policy on top of the agenda. He is the first native from Mainz to be elected mayor of his home town since 1965. On 10 November 2019, Ebling was reelected as mayor of Mainz. He gained 55.2 percent of the votes. 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 ...

under the leadership of

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

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 ...

following the 2017 federal elections, Ebling was part of the working group on municipalities and rural areas, led by

Reiner Haseloff Reiner Haseloff (born 19 February 1954) is a German politician who serves as the Minister-President, Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt. On 9 October 2020, he was elected President of the Bundesrat. His one-year term started on 1 November 2020. ...

Kurt Gribl Kurt Gribl (born 29 August 1964 Augsburg, Germany) is a former Mayor of Augsburg, Bavaria, an office he held from 1 May 2008 to 30 April 2020. He is a member of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria. Early career Gribl has been practicing law si ...

and Michael Groschek.

Other activities

Corporate boards

* Gas-Union GmbH, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board * Mainzer Stadtwerke AG, Ex-Officio Chairman of the Supervisory Board * Sparkasse Mainz, Ex-Officio Chairman of the Supervisory Board * Überlandwerk Groß-Gerau (ÜWG), Ex-Officio Chairman of the Supervisory Board * Zentrale Beteiligungsgesellschaft der Stadt Mainz mbH (ZBM), Ex-Officio Chairman of the Supervisory Board

Non-profit organizations

* Business Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Member of the Political Advisory Board (since 2020) * German Association of Local Utilities (VKU), President (since 2015) *

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 st ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees * Kunsthalle Mainz, Member of the Board of Trustees *

Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research The Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (german: Max-Planck-Institut für Polymerforschung) is a scientific center in the field of polymer science located in Mainz, Germany. The institute was founded in 1983 by Erhard W. Fischer and Gerhard ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees * Staatstheater Mainz, Ex-Officio Chairman of the Supervisory Board *

Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft – or Stifterverband for short – is a registered not-for-profit association that is based in Essen and which also has a capital city office in Berlin. Its work is focused on education, science and inn ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees

Personal life

Ebling is out as

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

.Mainz hat jetzt einen schwulen OB
Queer.de, March 25, 2012.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ebling, Michael 1967 births Living people Mayors of Mainz Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians LGBT mayors of places in Germany Gay politicians