Klara Geywitz
Geywitz in 2016
Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Building
Assumed office
8 December 2021
ChancellorOlaf Scholz
Preceded byHorst Seehofer (as Minister of the Interior, Building and Community)
Deputy Leader of the
Social Democratic Party
Assumed office
6 December 2019
LeaderSaskia Esken
Lars Klingbeil
Preceded byNatascha Kohnen
General Secretary of the
Social Democratic Party of Brandenburg
In office
2 September 2013 – 1 November 2017
LeaderDietmar Woidke
Preceded byKlaus Ness
Succeeded byErik Stohn
Member of the
Landtag of Brandenburg
for Potsdam I
In office
13 October 2004 – 25 September 2019
Preceded byHerbert Knoblich
Succeeded byMarie Schäffer
Personal details
Born (1976-02-18) 18 February 1976
Potsdam, Bezirk Potsdam, East Germany (now Germany)
Political partySocial Democratic Party (1992–)
ResidencePotsdam
Alma materUniversity of Potsdam
Occupation
  • Politician
  • Political Scientist
  • Political Staffer
Website

Klara Geywitz (German pronunciation: [ˈklaːʁa ˈɡaɪ̯ʋɪt͜s]; born 18 February 1976) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) serving as Federal Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Building in the Scholz cabinet since 2021.[1] She served as member of the Landtag of Brandenburg from 2004 until 2019, and is a Deputy Leader of the SPD since 2019.[2]

Early life and education

Klara Geywitz was born 1976 in Potsdam in the former German Democratic Republic. She studied political science at the University of Potsdam. In 1994, Geywitz became a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany.

Political career

From 2004 until 2019, Geywitz was a member of the Landtag of Brandenburg.[3] Among other committee assignments, she served on the Budget Committee from 2009 until 2014. She was always elected in First-past-the-post voting for her electoral district in Potsdam,[4] until she was defeated in the 2019 state election by Greens candidate Marie Schäffer.

From 2008 until 2013, Geywitz served as deputy chairwoman of the SPD in Brandenburg, under the leadership of its chairman Matthias Platzeck.[5] From 2013 until 2017, she was the party's Secretary General, this time under chairman Dietmar Woidke.[5]

In the negotiations to form a fourth cabinet under Chancellor Angela Merkel following the 2017 elections, Geywitz was part of her party's delegation.

In the 2019 SPD leadership election, Geywitz announced she would run as co-chair, together with incumbent Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz.[6] In the final voting round, she and Scholz were defeated winning 45 per cent of the party base, while Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans won with 53 per cent of the vote.[2] At a SPD national convention in 2019, Geywitz was later elected as one of the five deputies of the party's co-chairs Esken and Walter-Borjans.[7] in December 2021, she was re-elected at the SPD national convention .[8]

Since 2020, Geywitz has been working for the Brandenburg Court of Audit.[9]

Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Building, 2021–present

On 6 December 2021, Geywitz was announced as Federal Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Building in the Scholz cabinet.[10]

In October 2023, Geywitz participated in the first joint cabinet retreat of the German and French governments in Hamburg, chaired by Scholz and President Emmanuel Macron.[11][12]

Other activities

Corporate boards

  • Deutsche Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft (DDVG), Member of the Supervisory Board[13]

Non-profit organizations

  • German Poland Institute (DPI), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2022)[14]
  • Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation, Member of the Board[15]
  • Leo Baeck Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees[16]

Political positions

In 2020, following Thomas Oppermann’s death, Geywitz endorsed Dagmar Ziegler as his successor in the office of Vice-President of the German Bundestag.[17]

Personal life

Geywitz is married and has three children.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche, Germany: Social Democrats announce ministers for new government | DW | 06.12.2021, retrieved 19 May 2022
  2. 1 2 Tobias Buck (30 November 2019), Blow to Merkel as leftwingers win SPD leadership Financial Times.
  3. ↑ Marion Kaufmann (2 September 2019), Kandidatin für SPD-Vorsitz Klara Geywitz verliert ihren Wahlkreis Der Tagesspiegel.
  4. ↑ "Brandenburgs Ex-SPD-Generalin Klara Geywitz nähert sich Woidke wieder an".
  5. 1 2 3 Marion Kaufmann (20 August 2019), Wer ist Klara Geywitz? Eine Strategin für Olaf Scholz Der Tagesspiegel.
  6. ↑ Madeline Chambers (20 August 2019), Germany's Scholz picks eastern woman as running mate for SPD chair Reuters.
  7. ↑ SPD-Vizechefs: Kevin Kühnert bekommt mehr Stimmen als Hubertus Heil Der Spiegel, 6 December 2019.
  8. ↑ tagesschau.de. "Esken und Klingbeil SPD-Chefs - Kühnert neuer Generalsekretär". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  9. ↑ Benjamin Lassiwe (17 August 2020), Klara Geywitz jetzt beim Rechnungshof Potsdamer Neue Nachrichten.
  10. ↑ Stroh, Kassian (6 December 2021). "Lauterbach wird Gesundheitsminister, Scholz benennt SPD-Minister". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  11. ↑ Sarah Marsh and Andreas Rinke (9 October 2023), Germany, France hold unprecedented cabinet retreat to oil creaky EU motor Reuters.
  12. ↑ Erste deutsch-französische Kabinettsklausur: Zukunftsfragen und Weltpolitik diskutiert Cabinet of Germany, press release of 10 October 2023.
  13. ↑ Supervisory Board Deutsche Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft (DDVG).
  14. ↑ Board of Trustees German Poland Institute (DPI).
  15. ↑ Board Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation.
  16. ↑ Board of Trustees Archived 8 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine Leo Baeck Foundation.
  17. ↑ Markus Decker and Andreas Niesmann (14 November 2020), SPD streitet weiter um Oppermann-Nachfolge – mehrere Ostpolitiker für Ziegler RND.
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