Dagmar Gabriele Wöhrl (''née'' Winkler; born 5 May 1954) is a German politician of the

Christian Social Union in Bavaria The Christian Social Union in Bavaria ( German: , CSU) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. Having a regionalist identity, the CSU operates only in Bavaria while its larger counterpart, the Christian Democra ...

(CSU). She was elected to the German

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 ...

six times, serving from 1994 to her retirement in 2017. From 2005 until 2009 she was a

Parliamentary State Secretary A Parliamentary State Secretary (') is a member of the Bundestag given a portfolio to assist a Minister with running a government ministry Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat, office, or directorate) are designations us ...

in the

Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (, ; abbreviated BMWE, formerly BMWi) is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was previously known as the "Ministry of Economy". It was recreated in 2005 as "Minis ...

. She has served as Chairwoman of the Committee for Economic Cooperation and Development of the German Bundestag. She was also a member of the 'Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with Arabic-Speaking States' in the Middle East. In her youth Wöhrl participated in beauty pageants, winning the title of

Miss Germany Miss Germany is a national beauty pageant in Germany. The contest was held for the first time in 1927. Since 2020 it is used to honour women with special achievements. History In the past there were several organisations which claimed the tit ...

in 1977. She finished first runner-up in the

Miss International 1977 Miss International (''Miss International Beauty'' or ''The International Beauty Pageant'') is a Japan-based international major beauty pageant organized by the International Culture Association. First held in 1960, it is the fourth largest page ...

and Miss Europe 1977 competitions and second runner-up in the

Miss World 1977 Miss World 1977 was the 27th edition of the Miss World pageant, held on 17 November 1977 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom. The winner was Mary Ann-Catrin Stävin from Sweden. She was crowned by Miss World 1976, Cindy Breakspe ...

competition. Wöhrl is a member of UNICEF National Committee of Germany.

Early life and career

Born in

Stein, Bavaria Stein (; East Franconian: ''Schdah'') is a town in the district of Fürth, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 7 km south of Fürth, and 7 km southwest of Nuremberg (centre). Geography Stein is located in the metropolitan area Nürn ...

, Wöhrl represented Germany in various beauty pageants: the 1973 Miss Universe beauty pageant where she did not place; the

beauty pageant where she placed as first runner-up; the

beauty pageant (after she won the

beauty pageant 1977) where she placed as second runner-up; and the 1977 Miss Europe beauty pageant (held in March 1978 having been postponed in 1977, yet still called Miss Europe 1977) where she placed as first runner-up.

Political career

In 1994, 1998, 2002, 2005, 2009 and 2013, Wöhrl was elected to the German

, representing

Nuremberg North Nuremberg North () is an electoral constituency (German: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 243. It is ...

. In the first government of Chancellor Angela Merkel between 2005 and 2009, she served as

in the

under ministers

Michael Glos Michael Glos (born 14 December 1944) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union (CSU) who served as Minister for Economics and Technology in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 22 November 2005 until 10 February 2009. Ea ...

(2005–2009) and

Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg Karl-Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Buhl-Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg (born 5 December 1971), known professionally as Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, is a Germany, German businessman, journalist, podcaster, an ...

(2009). In the negotiations to form a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

following the 2009 federal elections, Wöhrl was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on economic affairs and energy policy, led by Guttenberg and Rainer Brüderle. She later served as Chairwoman of the Committee for Economic Cooperation and Development of the German Bundestag. She was also a member of the 'Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with Arabic-Speaking States' in the Middle East, which is in charge of maintaining inter-parliamentary relations with Bahrain, Irak, Yemen, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and the

Palestinian territories The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine ...

. From 2009, Wöhrl also served on the Committee on Cultural and Media Affairs, where she was her parliamentary group's

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

on creative industries. In March 2015, Wöhrl accompanied German President

Joachim Gauck Joachim Wilhelm Gauck (; born 24 January 1940) is a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2012 to 2017. A former Lutheran pastor, he came to prominence as an anti-communist civil rights activist in East Germany. During the P ...

on a state visit to Peru. In addition, she joined the delegations of Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development

Gerd Müller Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional association football, footballer. A prolific Forward (association football)#Striker, striker, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarde ...

to Nigeria (2014), Ghana (2015), Liberia (2015) and the Central African Republic (2015). In April 2016, Wöhrl announced that she would not stand in the 2017 federal elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.

Political positions

Development policy

When several Western countries froze their

official development assistance Official development assistance (ODA) is a category used by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to measure foreign aid. The DAC first adopted the concept in 1969. It is w ...

for Uganda in response to the country's Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2014, Wöhrl warned that "stopping all the aid would only hit the poorest of poor once again."

Peace-keeping on the African continent

During her time in parliament, Wöhrl voted in favor of German participation in United Nations peacekeeping missions as well as in United Nations-mandated European Union peacekeeping missions on the African continent, such as in Somalia – both

Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta, formally European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia, is an ongoing counter-piracy military operation at sea off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean, that is the first naval operation conducted by the ...

and EUTM Somalia – (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015), Darfur/Sudan (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015),

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

(2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015), Mali – both

EUTM Mali EUTM Mali (European Union Training Mission in Mali) was a European Union multinational military training mission headquartered in Bamako, Mali. 22 EU member states (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece ...

and

MINUSMA The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (, MINUSMA) was a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali. MINUSMA was established on 25 April 2013 by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2100 to stabilise ...

– (2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016), the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

(2014), and

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

(2015). She abstained from the vote on extending the mandate for Operation Atalanta in 2011.

European integration

On 27 February 2015, Wöhrl voted against the Merkel government's proposal for a four-month extension of Greece's bailout; in doing so, she joined a record number of 29 dissenters from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group who expressed skepticism about whether the Greek government under

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Alexis Tsipras Alexis Tsipras (, ; born 28 July 1974) is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2015 to 2019. A left-wing figure, Tsipras was leader of the List of political parties in Greece, Greek political party Syriza from 200 ...

could be trusted to deliver on its reform pledges. On 17 July, she voted against the government's proposal to negotiate a third bailout for Greece.

Other activities

Television appearances

By early 2017, media reported that Wöhrl would be joining the jury of ''

Die Höhle der Löwen ''Dragons' Den'' is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it i ...

'', a VOX reality television format featuring entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas in order to secure investment finance from a panel of

venture capitalist Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in terms of number ...

Corporate boards (selection)

* Bank J. Safra Sarasin, Member of the Supervisory Board * DORMERO Hotel AG, Member of the Supervisory Board * Nürnberger Krankenversicherung, Member of the Supervisory Board * Nürnberger Lebensversicherung, Member of the Supervisory Board * GIZ, Member of the Supervisory Board (–2017) *

Deutschlandradio Deutschlandradio (DLR; ) is a national German public radio broadcaster. History ''Deutschlandfunk'' was originally a West German news radio targeting listeners within West Germany as well as in neighbouring countries, ''Deutschlandfunk Kultur'' ...

, Member of the Supervisory Board (–2017) * German Federal Film Board (FFA), Member of the Supervisory Board (–2017) * German Investment and Development Corporation (DEG), Member of the Supervisory Board (2005–2009) * Bank Sarasin AG, Frankfurt/Main, Member of the Advisory Board (2009–2013) * Nürnberger Allgemeine Versicherungs-AG, Member of the Supervisory Board (2009–2011)

Non-profit organizations (selection)

* German Association for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (BVMW), Member of the Advisory Board * Cultural and Social Foundation International Young Orchestra Academy, Member of the Board of Trustees * Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Nuremberg, Member of the General Meeting *

Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg The Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg (formerly ''Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg-Augsburg'') is a music conservatoire based in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. The conservatoire has a secondary building in Augsburg. The Hochschule The Hochschule für ...

, Member of the University Council *

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (, also known as the Holocaust Memorial German: ''Holocaust-Mahnmal''), is a memorial in Berlin to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust committed by Nazi Germany, designed by architect Peter Eisenman an ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees * Tarabya Academy, Member of the Advisory Board (–2017) * Center for European Economic Research (ZEW), Member of the Board of Trustees (2005–2009) * Aktion Deutschland Hilft (Germany's Relief Coalition), Member of the Board of Trustees (–2017) * UNICEF National Committee of Germany, MemberGeneral Assembly of Members
UNICEF Deutschland. * Bavarian AIDS Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees *

Franconian International School The Franconian International School (FIS) is an international school based in Erlangen serving the Nuremberg metropolitan area community in Germany. History The Franconian International School (FIS) was founded in 1998 to serve the needs of a ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees (2009–2013)

Personal life

Wöhrl is married to the German

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Hans Rudolf Wöhrl. In 2001, she was subject of much media coverage after her younger son Emanuel died because of an accident. Her older son Marcus ran for the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

in 2004.

References

External links