Katja Pähle (born 27 June 1977) is a German politician of the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
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(SPD). Since 2016, she has served as chairwoman of the SPD parliamentary group in the
Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt
The Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt is the parliament of the German federal state Saxony-Anhalt. It convenes in Magdeburg and currently consists of 97 members of six parties. The current majority is a coalition of the Social Democratic Party, Free Demo ...
. She has also been deputy leader of the party's state branch since 2015, and a member of the SPD federal executive since 2017. She was the party's lead candidate for the
2021 Saxony-Anhalt state election
The 2021 Saxony-Anhalt state election was held on 6 June 2021 to elect the 8th Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt. The outgoing government was coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Social Democratic Party (SPD), and The Greens, led by Ministe ...
.
Early life and career
Pehle grew up in
Hettstedt
Hettstedt () is a town in Mansfeld-Südharz district, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, on the Wipper. It consists of Hettstedt proper and the ''Ortschaften'' (municipal divisions) Ritterode and Walbeck.Mansfelder Land, and graduated from high school in 1996. She studied sociology and psychology at
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public university, public research university in the cities of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German State o ...
, and received her PhD in 2010.
Pähle subsequently worked as a research assistant at the Collaborative Research Center 580 at the
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
The German Research Foundation ( ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2019, the DFG had a funding bu ...
. From 2008 to 2011 she worked in the State Ministry of Health and Social Affairs in
Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river.
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...
as a personal advisor in the ministerial office.
Political career
Career in state politics
In 1999 Pähle became a member of the SPD. From 2005 to 2013 she was chairwoman of the SPD city association in Halle. From 2004 to 2008 she sat as an expert resident in the social committee of the Halle city council. Since 2008, she has been a member of the SPD state executive.
Pähle was the SPD's candidate for the constituency of Halle II in the
2011 Saxony-Anhalt state election
Eleven or 11 may refer to:
*11 (number)
* One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011
Literature
* ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn
*''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith
*''Eleven'' ...
. She failed to win the constituency, but was elected via the party list and became a member of the Landtag. In 2015, she became deputy chairwoman of the state party. She was re-elected to the Landtag in the 2016 state election; after Katrin Budde resigned in the face of the party's disastrous result, Pähle became interim party leader. When the new Landtag sat, she was chosen as the new chair of the SPD parliamentary group.
In December 2017, Pähle became a member of the federal SPD executive. Since November 2019 she has served on the party presidium.
On 10 July 2020, Pähle was elected as the party's lead candidate for the 2021 state election. In an election among the party membership, she defeated
political scientist
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 ...
Roger Stöcker, winning 834 votes (52.5%) to Stöcker's 652 (41.0%).
Role in national politics
In the negotiations to form a so-called
traffic light coalition
In German politics, a traffic light coalition () is a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Alliance 90/The Greens. It is named after the parties' traditional colours, respectively red, y ...
of the SPD, the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice.
Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...
and the FDP following the 2021 federal elections, Pähle led her party's delegation in the working group on health policy; her co-chairs from the other parties were
Maria Klein-Schmeink
Maria Anna Klein-Schmeink (born 6 January 1958) is a German politician of Alliance 90/The Greens who served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2009 to 2025.
Early life and career
Klein-Schmeink studied ...
President of Germany
The president of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international correspondence; the official English title is President of the F ...
in
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
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 ...