Stefan Liebich (born 30 December 1972) is a German politician, who served as a member of 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 ...

for the

Democratic Socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a ...

party The Left (DIE LINKE) between 2009 and 2021.

Life

Liebich was born on 30 December 1972 in the

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

city of

Wismar Wismar (; Low German: ''Wismer''), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar (''Hansestadt Wismar'') is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city ...

and spent his childhood in

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (german: Universitäts- und Hansestadt Greifswald, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostoc ...

. In 1983, he moved with his family to

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 ...

. According to Liebich he was approached by the

Stasi The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...

at the age of 13, who asked him if he could imagine working for them at a later time.Biography
at Stefan Liebich's website After completing his

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 ...

in 1991, he graduated from

Beuth University of Applied Sciences Berlin Beuth may refer to: * Beuth (locomotive) * Christian Peter Wilhelm Beuth * Peter Beuth * Beuth Verlag, a subsidiary of the DIN Group (Deutsches Institut für Normung ' (DIN; in English, the German Institute for Standardisation Registered As ...

in business economics with a focus on information systems in 1995. Liebich is not religious.

Party

In the GDR Stefan Liebich was a member of the marxist youth organisation FDJ. in 1990, on his 18th birthday, he joined the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS). In 1996 and 1998 the PDS in

Marzahn Marzahn () is a locality within the borough of Marzahn-Hellersdorf in Berlin. Berlin's 2001 administrative reform led to the former boroughs of Marzahn and Hellersdorf fusing into a single new borough. In the north the Marzahn locality includes ...

elected him as chair of the district. In December 1999 he was elected co-chair of the PDS in Berlin. In 2001 he succeeded

Petra Pau Petra Pau (born 9 August 1963) is a German politician of The Left. She has been a member of the Bundestag since 1998. Since 2006, she has also served as one of the Vice Presidents of the Bundestag, being the first member of her party to hold t ...

as chairman of the Berlin PDS and was re-elected in 2003. In October 2005 Liebich announced that he would not run for chairman of the Berlin PDS again. He proposed

Klaus Lederer Klaus Lederer (born 21 March 1974) is a German politician of The Left who is serving as Deputy Mayor and Senator for Culture and Europe in the Berlin state government since December 2016. He is also a member of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin s ...

as his successor. He wanted to focus on leading the PDS’s parliamentary group at the

Berlin House of Representatives The Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin (House of Deputies) () is the state parliament (''Landtag'') of Berlin, Germany according to the city-state's constitution. In 1993 the parliament moved from Rathaus Schöneberg to its present house on Niederkirchne ...

Political positions

Liebich has been known to work for a red-red-green coalition on a federal level. Since 2009 he has hosted meetings between the party's MPs to find a common ground. He represents the moderate, reformist wing of the party and advocates for an involvement of the party with government.

Member of Parliament

Berlin House of Representatives

In 1995, 1999 and 2001 Stefan Liebich was voted into the

for the

constituency. At the 2006 election he did not manage to win the direct mandate for

Prenzlauer Berg Prenzlauer Berg () is a locality of Berlin, forming the southerly and most urban district of the borough of Pankow. From its founding in 1920 until 2001, Prenzlauer Berg was a district of Berlin in its own right. However, that year it was incorp ...

and was subsequently elected via the PDS list. From 2002 to 2006 he was the Chairman of the PDS parliamentary group.

Bundestag

Liebich ran for office for the PDS in 2002 in Berlin-Mitte and in 2005 for The Left in Berlin-Pankow. Both times he lost to the candidates of the

SPD 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 ...

. In 2009 Liebich managed to win the direct mandate in

Pankow Pankow () is the most populous and the second-largest borough by area of Berlin. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, it was merged with the former boroughs of Prenzlauer Berg and Weißensee; the resulting borough retained the name Pankow. P ...

for the first time, beating the incumbent

Wolfgang Thierse Wolfgang Thierse (; born 22 October 1943) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served as the 11th President of the Bundestag from 1998 to 2005. Early life and career Thierse was born in Breslau (Wrocław in present ...

. At the 2013 and 2017 elections he also won the direct mandate. He is the chairman of the parliamentary group of The Left in the Foreign Affairs committee of the Bundestag, currently he is the groups spokesperson for foreign policy. In February 2020, Liebich said that he will not seek re-election to the

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 ...

.Tagesspiegel: Berliner Linken Abgeordneter Liebich will nicht erneut für Bundestag kandidieren, (german)
/ref>, and subsequently left office on 26 October 2021.

Publications

* Stefan Liebich, Gerry Woop (Hrsg.): ''Linke Außenpolitik: Reformperspektiven''. WeltTrends, Potsdam 2013,

External links

Biography

Website

twitter account

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liebich, Stefan Members of the Bundestag for Berlin 1972 births Living people Members of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin People from Wismar People from Greifswald German atheists Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag for The Left