René Wilke (born 30 June 1984) is a German politician (

Die Linke The Left (german: Die Linke; stylised as and in its logo as ), commonly referred to as the Left Party (german: Die Linkspartei, links=no ), is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 2007 as the result of th ...

), Lord Mayor of

Frankfurt (Oder) Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (), is a city in the German state of Brandenburg. It has around 57,000 inhabitants, is one of the easternmost cities in Germany, the fourth-largest city in Brandenburg, and the largest German ...

, and a former member of Brandenburg's regional parliament.

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 ...

he became a

directly elected Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are cho ...

Member of parliament for his native Frankfurt (Oder). On 18 March 2018 he was elected ''

Oberbürgermeister Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief m ...

'' (Lord Mayor) of Frankfurt (Oder). With his inauguration on 6 May 2018, Wilke became the youngest mayor in the history of Frankfurt (Oder) and the mayor of the biggest city from his party.

Biography

Personal life

René Wilke was born on 30 June 1984 in Frankfurt (Oder), where he spent most of his life. After finishing High School in Frankfurt (Oder), Wilke studied at

Viadrina European University European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) (german: Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)) is a university located at Frankfurt (Oder) in Brandenburg, Germany. It is also known as the University of Frankfurt (Oder). The city is on the ...

and

University of Hagen The University of Hagen (german: link=no, FernUniversität in Hagen, informally often referred to as FU Hagen) is a public research university that is primarily focused on distance teaching. While its main campus is located in Hagen, North Rh ...

but did not graduate. After two

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

s he earned qualifications as a mediator and respectively as an office administrator.Biography Wilke's on his website
(German)

Political life

Wilke joined the Party of Democratic Socialism (German: ''Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus'', PDS) in the year 2000, when he was 16 years old. Only two years later, at the age of 18, Wilke was elected party leader for the district Frankfurt (Oder). Wilke remained in this position for 12 years and hence steered the transition from PDS to DIE LINKE in Frankfurt before he decided not to seek re-election for this office in 2014. Wilke worked amongst others, for the

Rosa Luxemburg Foundation The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (german: Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung), named in recognition of Rosa Luxemburg, occasionally referred to as ''Rosa-Lux'', is a transnational alternative policy lobby group and educational institution, centered in Germa ...

(German: ''Rosa-Luxemburg Stiftung'', RLS) and members of parliament like Helmut Scholz or

Lothar Bisky Lothar Bisky (17 August 1941 13 August 2013) was a German politician. He was the chairman of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), the successor of East Germany's Socialist Unity Party (SED). In June 2007 he became co-chairman of The Left ...

. In 2014 Wilke was elected for Frankfurt (Oder)'s city council. He became the speaker of his caucus and chaired, in addition, the committee for Urban Development and Economics (''Ausschuss für Stadtentwicklung, Wirtschaft, Arbeit, Verkehr und Umwelt''). in the constituency of Frankfurt (Oder) as a directly elected member of parliament for the Landtag of Brandenburg. Wilke became a member of his caucus' leadership team in the Landtag, serving at the end of his tenure as a speaker for finance and deputy speaker of DIE LINKE's caucus. With assuming the office of Lord Mayor in Frankfurt (Oder), Wilke forfeits his membership in the Landtag. He was replaced by Carsten Preuß. Wilke was running for

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Frankfurt (Oder) on the ticket of "Frankfurt geht Besser", an electoral pact composed of his party, the local chapter of

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

, and unaffiliated citizens of Frankfurt (Oder). His nomination occurred unanimously. In a field of five competitors, Wilke received 43.4% in the first round of elections on 4 March 2018, hence securing a spot for himself in the runoff taking place two weeks later on 18 March 2018. In the runoff, he defeated the incumbent Martin Wilke and was elected with 62.5% of the cast votes.

References

External links

René Wilke on the website of Frankfurt (Oder)
(German)
René Wilke on the website of the Landtag of Brandenburg
(German)

in the newspaper ''Weser-Kurier'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilke, René Living people The Left (Germany) politicians 1984 births People from Frankfurt (Oder) Mayors of places in Brandenburg Members of the Landtag of Brandenburg