Beate Baumann (born July 28, 1963) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

political

advisor An adviser or advisor is normally a person with more and deeper knowledge in a specific area and usually also includes persons with cross-functional and multidisciplinary expertise. An adviser's role is that of a mentor or guide and differs catego ...

. She became known as

office manager Office management is a profession involving the design, implementation, evaluation, and maintenance of the process of work within an office or other organization, in order to sustain and improve efficiency and productivity. Office management is ...

to German Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

and, alongside Eva Christiansen, as her closest advisor.

Life

After graduating from Gymnasium Carolinum in

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...

, Baumann studied English and German language and literature in

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

and passed her state examination in

in 1990. Baumann was already politically active during her studies, for example on the state executive committee of the Jungen Union in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

. On the recommendation of

Christian Wulff Christian Wilhelm Walter Wulff (; born 1959) is a retired German politician and lawyer who served as President of Germany from 2010 to 2012. A member of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he previously ...

, Baumann became Angela Merkel's advisor in the Federal Youth Ministry in January 1992 and moved with her to the Federal Environment Ministry as office manager in 1995. When Merkel was elected Secretary General of the CDU in 1998, Baumann followed her to the Adenauer House, where she temporarily headed the planning staff in addition to Merkel's office. When Merkel became chairwoman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

in 2002 in addition to her office as party chairwoman, Beate Baumann again accompanied her as office manager in the Jakob-Kaiser-Haus. After Merkel's election as Federal Chancellor, Baumann was her office manager in the Federal Chancellery from November 22, 2005, to December 8, 2021. She attended the Morgenlage there, to which only Merkel's closest circle was invited. As Merkel's office manager, Baumann had influence on some decisions. Merkel's decisions to run for the chancellorship again in 2017 and to vote against Marriage for All had to be supported by her as office manager, but she was personally of a different opinion. After the end of Merkel's chancellorship, she told '' Spiegel'' that she was working on a biography with her, which would be published in November 2024.

Film portrayals

Baumann was featured in the docudrama ''Stunden der Entscheidung: Angela Merkel and the Refugees'' by Tilla Kratochwil and in the feature film '' Die Getriebenen'' by Gisela Aderhold.

References

External links

''Merkels Baumann''
Portrait. In:

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

from December 23, 2004. Online at cicero.de. * Franziska Reich
''Merkels Schatten''
Portrait. In:

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. O ...

, issue 09/2007 from March 5, 2007. Online at stern.de. * Ralf Neukirch
''Ich, Merkel''
Portrait. In: SPIEGEL 26/2009 from June 22, 2009. Online at spiegel.de. * Eckart Lohse
''Ganz nah dran''
Portrait. In: FAZ from May 9, 2013. Online at faz.net. * Dominique Eigenmann
''Merkel's most influential advisor''
Portrait.

Tages-Anzeiger ''Tages-Anzeiger'' (), also abbreviated ''Tagi'' or ''TA'', is a Swiss German-language national daily newspaper published in Zurich, Switzerland. History and profile The paper was first published under the name ''Tages-Anzeiger für Stadt und K ...

, June 23, 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Baumann, Beate 1963 births Living people People from Osnabrück 21st-century German women politicians 21st-century German politicians