Karl Bär (born 13 March 1985 in

Tegernsee Tegernsee () is a Town#Germany, town in the Miesbach (district), Miesbach district of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the banks of Tegernsee (lake), Lake Tegernsee, which is 747 m (2,451 ft) AMSL, above sea level. A spa town, it is su ...

) is a German politician. He became a

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of 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 the

2021 German federal election The 2021 German federal election was held in Germany on 26 September 2021 to elect the members of the 20th Bundestag. State elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were also held. Incumbent chancellor Angela Merkel, first elected in 2005, ...

. He is affiliated with 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 ...

party. He became a member of the Green Youth organisation (''Grüne Jugend'') in 2002. From 2011 to 2012, he was national spokesperson for the Green Youth.

Life

After graduating from high school in Tegernsee in 2004, Bär studied

Islamic Studies Islamic studies is the academic study of Islam, which is analogous to related fields such as Jewish studies and Quranic studies. Islamic studies seeks to understand the past and the potential future of the Islamic world. In this multidiscipli ...

and

Agricultural Science Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Professio ...

with a minor in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

in Berlin. From 2009 to 2013, he worked as a student assistant and later a research assistant for the Green member of the Bundestag Agnes Krumwiede. Then, he joined the Munich Environmental Institute as a consultant for agricultural policy. Bär is a sperm donor and the father of a child who lives with its mother and her wife.

Politics

In 2002, Bär joined the Green Youth and was the spokesperson for the GJ Holzkirchen until 2004. Bär was already a member of the Federal Executive Board of the Green Youth as an assessor from 2006 to 2007 and 2009 to 2010. On 8 October 2011, he was elected spokesperson at the 37th Federal Congress in Gelsenkirchen. Due to his age, he did not run for a second term of office and was replaced as spokesperson by Jens Parker on 28 October 2012. In 2009, he ran as a candidate for the Bavarian Greens Bundestag election in 12th place on the list and as a direct candidate in the Starnberg Bundestag constituency but did not enter parliament. In December 2012, he was nominated by the Bavarian Greens in 14th place on the list for the 2013 Bundestag election and stood again as a direct candidate in the Starnberg Bundestag constituency. In the 2014 local elections in Bavaria on 16 March, Bär stood for

for the Holzkirchen municipal council and the Miesbach district council and was elected to the municipal council and district council. In the newly formed federal constituency of

Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen – Miesbach Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen – Miesbach is an electoral constituency (German language, German: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is d ...

, Bär was again a direct candidate for the 2017 federal election and stood in 12th place on the Bavarian Greens' list after losing the coin toss for 10th place following a tie. In the end, the eleven Greens ahead of him on the list entered the Bundestag, even though Karl Bär was the only Bavarian Green direct candidate to win second place in the constituency. In the 2020 local elections in Bavaria, he was re-elected to the Holzkirchen municipal council and the Miesbach district council. In April 2021, he was again nominated by the Bavarian Greens for 12th place on the list for the 2021 federal election, as well as by the members of the Green district associations of

Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen ( Bavarian: ''Bad Däiz-Woifradshausn'') is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the south and clockwise) Austria and the districts of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Weilheim-Schongau, Starnber ...

and

Miesbach Miesbach () is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, Germany, and is the capital of the Miesbach (district), Miesbach district. The district is at an altitude of 697 metres above sea level. It covers an area of approximately 863.50 km2 of alpine ...

as a direct candidate in federal constituency 223. Bär managed to enter the

German Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the lower house of the German federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag was established by Title III of the Basic Law for ...

in 2021 via the state list.

Political positions

In November 2022, he was one of three members of the Green parliamentary group in the Bundestag to vote against the EU's Transatlantic Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada.

Criminal proceedings in South Tyrol

Since 2017, Bär, together with the Munich Environmental Institute in the Venosta Valley in

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

, has been trying to draw attention to the high use of

pesticides Pesticides are substances that are used to pest control, control pest (organism), pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for a ...

in apple cultivation, which he believes poses a major health risk. In addition, massive effects on

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

were to be expected. After a poster campaign titled 'Pestizidtirol' in South Tyrol's

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

advertising style, the then deputy provincial governor Arnold Schuler filed a complaint for defamation. In 2020, the public prosecutor's office in

Bolzano Bolzano ( ; ; or ) is the capital city of South Tyrol (officially the province of Bolzano), Northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The ...

brought charges against Bär and the Environmental Institute at the provincial court. 1367 farmers joined this complaint in the region. The request for

legal assistance Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right t ...

from the Munich I public prosecutor's office was unsuccessful, citing the right to freedom of expression. The trial attracted much media attention and petitions, giving the impression across Europe that critics were being silenced through intimidation and lawsuits. On the first day of the trial on 22 October 2020, Arnold Schuler announced that he was withdrawing his lawsuit; by the fifth day of the trial on 28 January 2022, the last plaintiff had also withdrawn his lawsuit against Bär. However, he still had to answer for trademark counterfeiting, as he had used the logo of the Südtirol brand family in the campaign. On 6 May 2022, Bär was also acquitted on this point, as the court in Bolzano found that he had not used the logo for commercial purposes.

Memberships

* Bavarian Nature Conservation Association * German Alpine Association * Society for Agricultural History * Supporting member of

Sea Watch ''Angelica lucida'' is a species of angelica known by the common names seacoast angelica and sea-watch. It is also one of many species in the celery family which are casually called wild celery. As its common names suggest, this plant is found ...

References

External links

Biography at the German Bundestag

Member profile of Karl Bär at abgeordnetenwatch.de (in German)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baer, Karl Living people 21st-century German politicians 1985 births People from Miesbach (district) Members of the Bundestag for Alliance 90/The Greens Members of the Bundestag for Bavaria Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2025–2029