Jürgen Kretz (born 7 June 1982 in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

) is a German politician of the

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

who has been serving as a

Member of the German Bundestag Member of the German Parliament () is the official name given to a deputy in the Bundestag, German Bundestag. ''Member of Parliament'' refers to the elected members of the federal Bundestag Parliament at the Reichstag building in Berlin. In G ...

since February 2024.

Early life and education

Kretz grew up in

Wiesloch Wiesloch (, locally ; South Franconian: ''Wissloch'') is a town in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 13 kilometres south of Heidelberg. After Weinheim, Sinsheim and Leimen, it is the fourth largest town in the Rhein-Neckar-K ...

and graduated from high school there in 2001. He then completed

alternative civilian service Alternative civilian service, also called alternative services, civilian service, non-military service, and substitute service, is a form of national service performed in lieu of military conscription for various reasons, such as conscientious o ...

in a

children's home Residential child care communities or children's homes are a type of residential care, which refers to long-term care given to children who cannot stay in their birth family home. There are two different approaches towards residential care: The fam ...

Lima, Peru Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

. From 2002 to 2008 he studied political science and intercultural communications at the

Chemnitz University of Technology Chemnitz University of Technology () is a public university in Chemnitz, Germany. With around 8,300 students, it is the third largest university in Saxony. It was founded in 1836 as ''Königliche Gewerbschule'' (Royal Mercantile College) and ...

. He completed his studies with a master's degree. Kretz is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Early career

After graduating, Kretz briefly worked for Bundestag member

Gert Weisskirchen Gert Weisskirchen (or Weißkirchen; born 16 May 1944 in Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a popul ...

(SPD). From 2009 to 2012 he worked as a research assistant in the office of Bundestag member Viola von Cramon-Taubadel (Greens). From 2012 until his entry into the Bundestag in 2024, he worked at the

Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (, ; abbreviated BMZ) is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its main office is at the former German Chancellery in Bonn with a second major office at the Eu ...

. Among several positions, he served as head of the

development cooperation Development aid (or development cooperation) is a type of aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries. It is distinguished from humanitarian aid by ...

department at the German Embassy in Kinshasa for two years.

Political career

Kretz has been a member of Alliance 90/The Greens since 2009. From 2014 to 2016 he was a member of the district council of the

Rhein-Neckar-Kreis The Rhein-Neckar-Kreis is a district in the northwest of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The administrative headquarters are based in the city Heidelberg, which is a district-free city. As of 2019, the district is the most populous in Baden-Württe ...

es district. In the 2021 federal election, Kretz ran in the Rhine-Neckar federal constituency and in 19th place on the Green Party's state list in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, but initially missed out on entering the Bundestag. On 15 February 2024, he replaced Christian Kühn in the Bundestag when he resigned. He has since been serving on the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection.

Other activities

* German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval), Member of the advisory board (since 2024) * German United Services Trade Union (ver.di), Member * Germanwatch, MemberJürgen Kretz

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 ...

External links

Homepage von Jürgen Kretz

Biographie beim Deutschen Bundestag

Jürgen Kretz
at

Parliamentwatch Parliamentwatch () is a German Internet portal that allows asking questions to representatives and candidates in various parliaments publicly. The independent, nonpartisan site aims to increase transparency in government and deepen German democr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kretz, Jürgen Living people 1982 births Chemnitz University of Technology alumni 21st-century German civil servants German expatriates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo German expatriates in Peru German Roman Catholics Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag for Alliance 90/The Greens Members of the Bundestag for Baden-Württemberg Politicians from Heidelberg People from Wiesloch