Barbara Anne Hendricks (born 29 April 1952) 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 Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in the government of Chancellor

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 Opp ...

from 2013 until 2018. From 2007 to 2013, Hendricks was Federal Treasurer of the SPD, and from 1998 to 2007 she was Parliamentary Secretary of State at the Federal Ministry of Finance.

Early life and career

Barbara Hendricks was born in

Kleve Kleve (; traditional en, Cleves ; nl, Kleef; french: Clèves; es, Cléveris; la, Clivia; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century ...

. After obtaining her ' in 1970 at the Johanna Sebus Gymnasium in Kleve, Hendricks studied

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and

Social Sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...

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-Ru ...

, passing the ' examination for

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

teachers in 1976. She then worked for the Association for Student Affairs until 1978. After that, until 1981, she was a deputy press secretary at the press office 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 Common ...

parliamentary party of the SPD. In 1980 she was awarded a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

based on a thesis entitled ''Die Entwicklung der Margarineindustrie am unteren Niederrhein'' he development of the margarine industry on the lower Rhine She was then press secretary of the minister of finance of the state of North Rhine-Westfalia until 1990. In 1991 she was appointed Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of the Environment, Spatial Planning and Agriculture of the State of North Rhine-Westfalia.

Political career

Early beginnings

Barbara Hendricks has been a member of the SPD since 1972 and has been the president of the SPD party organization for the District of Kleve since 1989. From 1984 to 1989 she was a member of the District Council (') of the Rural District of Kleve. From 1990 to 2001 she was a member of the party council. From 1987 to 2001 she was a member of the state party executive of the SPD in North Rhine-Westphalia – as from 1996 as treasurer. Since the

1994 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1994. Africa * 1994 Botswana general election * 1994 Guinea-Bissau general election * 1994 Malawian general election * 1994 Mozambican general election * 1994 Namibian general election * 1994 South Af ...

, Hendricks has been a member of the

. In parliament, she served on the Finance Committee from 1994 until 1998. In addition, from October 1995 to November 1998, she was a member of the executive of the SPD parliamentary group, under the leadership of the group’s chairman

Rudolf Scharping Rudolf Albert Scharping (born 2 December 1947) is a German lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He was from 1991 to 1994 the 6th Minister President of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate and from 1998 to 2002 Federal Minis ...

. Hendricks was always elected to the Bundestag via the party list of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 2001 she has been a member of the SPD (federal) party executive.

Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Finance, 1998–2007

Following the

1998 German federal election Federal elections were held in Germany on 27 September 1998 to elect the members of the 14th Bundestag. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) emerged as the largest faction in parliament for the first time since 1972, with its leader Gerhard Schr� ...

, on 27 October 1998 Hendricks was appointed Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Finance in the cabinet of Chancellor

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...

. From 22 November 2005, Hendricks continued in this office in the first cabinet of Chancellor

– meaning that she was a state secretary under three finance ministers:

Oskar Lafontaine Oskar Lafontaine (; born 16 September 1943) is a German politician. He served as Minister-President of the state of Saarland from 1985 to 1998, and was federal leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD) from ...

Hans Eichel Hans Eichel (born 24 December 1941) is a German politician ( SPD) and the co-founder of the G20, or "Group of Twenty", an international forum for the governments and central bank governors of twenty developed and developing nations to discuss ...

, and

Peer Steinbrück Peer Steinbrück (born 10 January 1947) is a German politician who was the Chancellor-candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the 2013 federal election. Steinbrück served as the eighth Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia f ...

. She left this office on 16 November 2007, after being elected federal treasurer of the SPD.

Treasurer of the SPD, 2007–2013

From October 2007, Hendricks served as SPD federal treasurer, a position in which she administered the party-owned media holding Print and Publishing Society (DDVG) with stakes in regional newspapers such as '' Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung'', ''

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 ...

'' and ''

Märkische Allgemeine The ''Märkische Allgemeine'' (also known as the MAZ) is a regional, daily newspaper published by the ''Märkische Verlags- und Druckgesellschaft mbH'' for the area in and around the state capital of Brandenburg, Potsdam in Germany. The newspaper ...

''. In the campaign for the

2009 German federal election Federal elections took place on 27 September 2009 to elect the members of the 17th Bundestag (parliament) of Germany. Preliminary results showed that the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union ...

Hendricks was a member of the " shadow cabinet" of the SPD candidate for the chancellorship,

Frank-Walter Steinmeier Frank-Walter Steinmeier (; born 5 January 1956) is a German politician serving as President of Germany since 19 March 2017. He was previously Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2017, as well as Vice Chan ...

, where she was responsible for consumer affairs. Following the elections, she served on the Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development until 2013. On the committee, she was her parliamentary group’s rapporteur on

heavily indebted poor countries The heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) are a group of 39 developing countries with high levels of poverty and debt overhang which are eligible for special assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The HIPC ...

(HIPC); poverty reduction strategies (PRSP); the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

(IMF); the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

; and the

European Development Fund Global Europe, officially the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI), is the financial arm of the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union, which provides funding for the European Neighbourhoo ...

(EDF). In the negotiations to form a coalition government following the 2013 federal elections, Hendricks was part of the 15-member leadership circle chaired by

Horst Seehofer Horst Lorenz Seehofer (born 4 July 1949) is a German politician who served as Minister of the Interior, Building and Community under Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2018 to 2021. A member of the Christian Social Union (CSU), he served as the 18 ...

and

Sigmar Gabriel Sigmar Hartmut Gabriel (born 12 September 1959) is a German politician who was the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2017 to 2018 and the vice-chancellor of Germany from 2013 to 2018. He was Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...

. Until 2014 Hendricks also served as a member of the executive of the SPD Culture Forum, mainly responsible for culture financing.

Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, 2013–2018

From 17 December 2013, Hendricks served as Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety in the third cabinet of

. Hendricks led the German delegations to the 2014 United Nations Climate Change Conference in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

and the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. In August 2015, she was part of Chancellor Merkel’s delegation to the first joint cabinet meeting of the governments of Germany and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

. In early 2015, Hendricks proposed a new draft law that imposes an outright ban on

fracking Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frac ...

for

shale gas Shale gas is an unconventional natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations. Since the 1990s a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has made large volumes of shale gas more economical to produce, and some ...

in the following years and only allow scientific test drilling under strict conditions to assess the risks and environmental impact. The resulting legislation that passed the cabinet in April 2015 softened her line somewhat, restricting fracking until 2019, after which commercial fracking could only go forward after passing various tough regulatory hurdles. The legislation, however, allows fracking for deep-lying or "tight" gas, a technology that has been used for decades in Germany. By early 2016, Hendricks entered in talks with various stakeholders on drawing up a plan over how to exit coal-fired power generation in Germany, later named 'Climate Action Plan 2050'.

Later career

Following the

2017 elections The following elections occurred in 2017. Africa *2017 Somali presidential election 8 February 2017 *2017 Gambian parliamentary election 6 April 2017 * 2017 Algerian legislative election 4 May 2017 *2017 Lesotho general election 3 June 2017 *20 ...

, Hendricks remained in office until 2018 but left with the new coalition government of Chancellor

taking over. She joined the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs. In addition to her committee assignments, she served as deputy chairwoman of the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with the Cono Sur States (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay). In February 2021, Hendricks said she would not contest the 2021 elections.Kevelaerer-Blatt.de: Wenn man Politik macht, muss man Menschen mögen
/ref>

Other activities

Corporate boards

Messe Berlin Messe Berlin (') are exhibition grounds in the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf precinct of Berlin, Germany, at Masurenallee opposite the Haus des Rundfunks. Since 2011, they have officially been known as "Berlin ExpoCenter City" and operated by the M ...

, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2019) *

KfW The KfW, which together with its subsidiaries DEG, KfW IPEX-Bank and FuB forms the KfW Bankengruppe ("banking group"), is a German state-owned investment and development bank, based in Frankfurt. As of 2014, it is the world's largest national d ...

, ex-officio Member of the Board of Supervisory Directors (2014–2018) * Volksfürsorge Deutsche Lebensversicherung AG, Member of the Advisory Board (2005–2013) *

German Investment Corporation Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) is a Development Finance Institution (DFI) and a subsidiary of KfW Group. It was founded in Cologne in September 1962 as a federally owned company by the former Federal President Walter ...

(DEG), Member of the Supervisory Board (2005–2007) *

IKB Deutsche Industriebank IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG (FWB: IKBG) is a bank headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. It was established in 1924 under the name Bank für Industrie-Obligationen (). IKB supports medium-sized enterprises in Germany and Europe with loans, risk ...

, Member of the Advisory Board (2005–2007)

Cultural institutions

* Federal Cultural Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees (2002–2007) *

Jewish Museum, Berlin The Jewish Museum Berlin (''Jüdisches Museum Berlin'') was opened in 2001 and is the largest Jewish museum in Europe. On of floor space, the museum presents the history of Jews in Germany from the Middle Ages to the present day, with new focuses ...

, Alternate Member of the Board of Trustees (2001–2007) * Museum Foundation Post and Telecommunication, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees (1998–2005)

Others

* Central Committee of German Catholics, MemberBarbara Hendricks erneut im Zentralkomitee der Katholiken
''

Rheinische Post ''Rheinische Post'' is a major German regional daily newspaper published since 1946 by the ''Rheinische Post Verlagsgesellschaft GmbH'' company, and headquartered in Düsseldorf. The Post is especially dominant in the western part of North Rhine- ...

'', November 21, 2016. * Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), Member of the Board * ' foundation., Member of the Board of Trustees * ''Denkwerk Demokratie'', Member of the Advisory Board * German-Dutch Conference, Member of the Steering Board * Magnus Hirschfeld Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees *

German Foundation for World Population DSW (german: Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung) is an international non-governmental organisation addressing Sexual & Reproductive Health (SRH) and population dynamics. DSW funds its project and advocacy work from private donations and the finan ...

(DSW), Member of the Parliamentary Advisory Board (–2021) *

Federal Agency for Civic Education The Federal Agency for Civic Education (FACE, german: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (''bpb'')) is a German federal government agency responsible for promoting civic education. It is subordinated to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees (2010–2014) * German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU), Member of the Board of Trustees (2002–2007) *

Gegen Vergessen – Für Demokratie Gegen Vergessen – Für Demokratie (Against Oblivion – For Democracy) is a German organization promoting diversity, tolerance and democratic participation, and opposing racism, prejudice and right-wing and left-wing extremism. It focuses in ...

, Member *

IG Bergbau, Chemie, Energie The IG Bergbau, Chemie, Energie (IG BCE) is a trade union in Germany. It is one of eight industrial affiliations of the German Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB). History and structure The IG BCE was created in 1997 from the merger of the Che ...

(IG BCE), Member

Personal life

Hendricks is openly lesbian. She is Catholic. After the legalisation of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

in Germany, Hendricks married her long-term partner Valérie Vauzanges in October 2017.

Cabinets

First Schröder cabinet The First Schröder cabinet (German: ''Kabinett Schröder I'') was the 19th Government of Federal Republic of Germany in office from 27 October 1998 until 22 October 2002. It succeeded the Fifth Kohl cabinet formed after the 1998 elections. Ger ...

(junior minister) * Second Schröder cabinet (junior minister) *

First Merkel cabinet The First Merkel cabinet (German: ''Kabinett Merkel I'') was the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany from 22 November 2005 to 27 October 2009 throughout the 16th legislative session of the Bundestag. Led by Christian Democrat Angela M ...

(junior minister) *

Third Merkel cabinet The Third Merkel cabinet (German: ''Kabinett Merkel III'') was the 23rd Government of the Federal Republic of Germany during the 18th legislative session of the Bundestag. Installed after the 2013 federal election, it left office on 14 March 20 ...

(cabinet minister)

Works

* *Barbara Hendricks: ''Steuergerechtigkeit für Familien'' ax justice for familiesIn: Wolfgang Thierse (ed.): ''Religion ist keine Privatsache'' eligion is not a private matter Patmos, Düsseldorf 2000.

Awards

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

References

External links

Website of Barbara Hendricks

at the