Rainer Brüderle (born 22 June 1945) is a German politician and member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). He served as Minister of Economics and Transport 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 ...

from 1987–1998. On 28 October 2009, he was appointed Federal Minister for Economics and Technology in the second cabinet 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 his election in May 2011 as chairman of his party's parliamentary group, Brüderle resigned as Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Technology.

Early life and education

Brüderle was born in

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 ...

, and grew up in

Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990 ...

. He was an exchange student in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

. Brüderle holds a

Diplom A ''Diplom'' (, from grc, δίπλωμα ''diploma'') is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus ...

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

from 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 ...

. He also earned a doctorate and worked at the university until he entered politics, first at the municipal level and then at the state level, for Rhineland Palatinate.

Political career

Brüderle (right) in 1993 Brüderle in 2018 Brüderle served as a member of the German

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 ...

between

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

. At the 2009 election he unsuccessfully contested the

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 ...

constituency, but was elected to the Bundestag for the Rhineland-Palatinate land list.

Minister for Economic Affairs and Technology, 2009–2011

Petrol prices In May 2008, Brüderle said, for two-thirds of every gas station bill supported by the State responsibility. He demanded to abolish the road tax in addition to the eco-tax, it is sufficient if "only the real consumption" will be touched by mineral oil from the Treasury. Neither he as economy minister in the federal government since 2009 nor the FDP voiced these demands again. State aid for Opel On 9 June 2010 Brüderle refused a request from Opel Germany to 1.1 billion euro in the form of state aid. On the same day Chancellor Angela Merkel gave Opel vague hope of a bailout stating: "The last word on the future of Opel is still out." "The state is not the better entrepreneur" was a justification Brüderle for his vote. The state aid would have resulted in his opinion, to serious distortions of competition in the industry. However, a government decision, there was not, as General Motors and Opel / Vauxhall in Europe applied for no more state aid . Unbundling law This would allow the State to dismantle dominant corporations (even without concrete reason) when the competition can not otherwise be made. The German power companies then turned against such a bill. In May 2010 Brüderle defused the bill. Financial crisis On 14 September 2011, Brüderle announced that an article written for the newspaper ''

Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...

'' by Vice Chancellor

Philipp Rösler Philipp Rösler (born 24 February 1973) is a German physician and former politician who served as federal minister of health from 2009–2011 and federal minister of economics and technology as well as vice-chancellor of Germany from 2011 to ...

, about the possible benefits of a Greek

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

for the rest of the euro zone, confirmed the opinion of a number of European finance ministers.

Chairman of the FDP parliamentary group, 2011–2013

During his time in office, Brüderle mainly focused on European policy issues as a result of the continent's sovereign debt crisis. By 2012, in the face of growing criticism of the Merkel government's policies, he publicly stated that Germany "could reach the stage at which a referendum on Europe becomes necessary." In January 2013, party chairman Philipp Rösler offered to the party leadership to step down in favour of Brüderle, then the favoured choice of many FDP members to lead the party into that year's

national election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. Brüderle declined, and both agreed that Rösler would stay on as party leader, while Brüderle would be the face of the FDP's election campaign.

Other activities

State agencies

* Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Posts and Railway (BNetzA), Member of the Advisory Board (1998–2009) * Landesbank Rheinland-Pfalz, Member of the Board of Guarantors (1998–2008)

Corporate boards

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 (2009–2011) *

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

, Member of the Advisory Board (1998–2009) * Provinzial Rheinland Versicherung AG, Member of the Supervisory Board (2005-2006) * IVA Valuation & Advisory AG, Member of the Supervisory Board (2005–2009; since 2011) * RSBK Strategie Beratung Kommunikation AG, Member of the Advisory Board (2005–2009; since 2013)

Non-profits

* ''

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

'', Member of the Broadcasting Board * Center of Market-Oriented Product and Production Management (CMPP), Member of the Advisory Board * Stiftung Auge, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2009) * German-Israeli Business Association, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 200?) * Rationalisierungs- und Innovationszentrum der Deutschen Wirtschaft, Member of the Board of Trustees (2009–2013)

Controversy

In the magazine ''

Stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

'' in January 2013, journalist published an article about alleged advances towards her from the politician during a January 2012 political gathering at a bar in Stuttgart. The advances included asking her for a dance and mainly the suggestive comment that she "could also fill a

dirndl A dirndl () is a feminine dress which originated in German-speaking areas of the Alps. It is traditionally worn by women and girls in Bavaria (south-eastern Germany), Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Alpine regions of Italy. A dirndl c ...

" with a look at her breasts, which she interpreted as

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...

, sparking a media-wide debate.

Personal life

Brüderle lives in

. He maintains a holiday residence in

Lehigh Acres, Florida Lehigh Acres is an unincorporated area and Municipal District in Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 Census the population was 135,272. Lehigh Acres is part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Lehi ...

.Rainer Brüderle
''

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'', December 6, 2010.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruderle, Rainer 1945 births Living people Politicians from Berlin Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Economy ministers of Germany German economists Members of the Bundestag for Rhineland-Palatinate Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz alumni Members of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag 2002–2005 Members of the Bundestag 1998–2002 Members of the Bundestag for the Free Democratic Party (Germany)