Alexander Dobrindt
MdB
Dobrindt in 2017
Chairman of the CSU Parliamentary Group and First Deputy Leader of the CDU/CSU Group in the Bundestag
Assumed office
24 October 2017
LeaderVolker Kauder
Ralph Brinkhaus
Friedrich Merz
Preceded byGerda Hasselfeldt
Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure
In office
17 December 2013 – 24 October 2017
ChancellorAngela Merkel
Preceded byPeter Ramsauer
Succeeded byChristian Schmidt (acting)
General Secretary of the Christian Social Union
In office
9 February 2009 – 15 December 2013
LeaderHorst Seehofer
Preceded byKarl-Theodor zu Guttenberg
Succeeded byAndreas Scheuer
Member of the Bundestag
for Weilheim
Assumed office
17 October 2002
Preceded byMichaela Geiger
Personal details
Born (1970-06-07) 7 June 1970
Peißenberg, Bavaria, Germany
Political partyCSU
Alma materLudwig Maximilian University of Munich
Websitealexander-dobrindt.de

Alexander Dobrindt (born 7 June 1970) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU). He is the Chairman of the CSU Parliamentary Group in the German Bundestag since 2017. Between 2013 and 2017, he served as Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Previously, he was the Secretary General of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria under the leadership of party chairman Horst Seehofer from 2009.

Early life

Dobrindt was born in Peißenberg, Bavaria. He graduated from the Weilheim Highschool in 1989 and continued his studies in the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich finishing with a Master of Arts in Sociology in 1995.

After obtaining his degree, Dobrindt worked at an engineering company as a Financial Director from 1996 to 2001 and as a Managing Director from 2001 to 2005.

Political career

Dobrindt joined the Junge Union (Junior party of the C.S.U.) in 1986 and 4 years later the Christian Social Union of Bavaria. He has been a member of the German National Parliament (Bundestag) since the 2002 federal elections when he won the direct mandate in the Parliamentary Constituency of Weilheim with 59.4 percent of the votes.[1] Since 2009, he serves as the District-Chairman of the CSU in Weilheim-Schongau.

In parliament, Dobrindt served as a member of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Technology between 2005 and 2009. In the negotiations to form a coalition government following the 2013 elections, he was part of the 15-member leadership circle chaired by Merkel, Seehofer and Sigmar Gabriel.

In his capacity as minister, Dobrindt introduced a controversial road toll which forces foreign car drivers to pay up to 130 euros a year for using Germany's Autobahn motorways;[2] the toll was a pet project of his CSU party. He was also in charge of drafting the government's plan to spend almost 270 billion euros (£226.48 billion) to repair and build new roads, railway lines and waterways between 2017 and 2030.[3]

From late 2016, Dobrindt was a member of the German government's cabinet committee on Brexit at which ministers discuss organizational and structural issues related to the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union.[4][5]

Following the 2017 elections, Dobrindt succeeded Gerda Hasselfeldt as head of the Bundestag group of CSU parliamentarians. He leads the joint CDU/CSU group together with his co-chair, CDU Chairman Friedrich Merz.

Other activities

Corporate boards

  • KfW, Ex-Officio Member of the Supervisory Board (2014-2017)

Non-profit organizations

  • ZDF, Member of the Television Board (2009-2014)
  • Akademie für Politische Bildung Tutzing, Member of the Advisory Board[6]
  • Deutsches Museum, Member of the Board of Trustees[7]

Political positions

In 2013, Dobrindt called LGBT people a "shrill minority" which adopted an odd lifestyle.[8] In June 2017, he voted against Germany's introduction of same-sex marriage.[9]

Personal life

Dobrindt is a Roman Catholic, was married in Torri del Benaco, Italy in 2009, and has one son.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bundestag Archived 2009-09-04 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Markus Wacket and Michael Nienaber (October 30, 2014), Germany's new road toll to cost foreign drivers up to 130 euros Reuters.
  3. ↑ Markus Wacket (August 3, 2016), Germany to spend 270 billion euros to fix roads, railways, waterways Reuters.
  4. ↑ Joseph Nasr (January 13, 2017), Merkel to chair first Brexit committee meeting next week Reuters.
  5. ↑ Readout of the government's press conference on 13 January 2017 Federal Press Office.
  6. ↑ Board of Trustees and Advisory Board Akademie für Politische Bildung Tutzing.
  7. ↑ Board of TrusteesDeutsches Museum.
  8. ↑ Dobrindt nennt Homosexuelle eine schrille Minderheit
  9. ↑ Diese Unionsabgeordneten stimmten für die Ehe für alle Die Welt, June 30, 2017.
  10. ↑ Dobrindt hat geheiratet Münchner Merkur, April 23, 2009.
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