Volksgezondheid: Karl Lauterbach (58, SPD)
‘Even by shitstorms and death threats Karl Lauterbach won’t let him down’, wrote the right-wing tabloid image, after all, not a natural friend of the Social Democratic SPD, recently in an ultra-short comment. Make the man minister.
SPD MP Karl Lauterbach, who trained as a doctor and epidemiologist at Harvard, among others, has developed into an outspoken driver of stricter corona measures during the pandemic. He is omnipresent in German talk shows and newspapers. He is loved by many – and hated by corona skeptics – for his bold, independent and sometimes unpredictable statements. That is also the reason that until Monday morning it was still highly uncertain whether Lauterbach would become ‘it’: Scholz wants loyal ministers, not disruptors, and a lot of SPD members consider fervent twitterer Lauterbach a somewhat impulsive high-flyer.
Scholz, however, could not (or did not want to) ignore Lauterbach, as was apparent from his introduction Monday: ‘Most citizens want the next health minister to come out of the profession, and for his name to be Karl Lauterbach. He will be!’
Home Office: Nancy Faeser (51, SPD)
The party chairman and faction leader of the SPD in the state of Hesse, Nancy Faeser (51), becomes the first female German interior minister. Few people know her outside of the SPD. Faeser has been part of the ‘Interior’ working group at the SPD party leadership in Berlin since 2009, and Scholz praised her expertise in this area on Monday. Her ministry oversees, among other things, the security services and the police. Faeser emphasized that the fight against right-wing extremism, ‘the greatest threat facing our free democratic legal order at the moment’, has a special priority for her.
Defence: Christine Lambrecht (56, SPD)
“Security in this government is in the hands of strong women,” Scholz said, introducing Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht. The also Hessian SPD veteran is one of the more experienced drivers. Lambrecht has been a member of the Bundestag since 1998, has been Minister of Justice since 2019, and since May 2021 she has also been responsible for the Ministry of Family, Women and Youth. Defense is a difficult post, Lambrecht acknowledged, ‘but anyone who knows me knows that I like big challenges’. Lambrecht wants to make Defense more attractive to young people, promises better equipment for soldiers, and wants to scrutinize foreign operations. Afghanistan has shown the need for a solid exit strategy, she says.
Labor and Social Affairs: Hubertus Heil (49, SPD)
Scholz said it himself: this ministry deals with matters that are very close to his heart – and his party. Hubertus Heil is the only minister to remain in his post. For the past four years, he headed the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs under the governing coalition of the SPD and Merkel’s CDU. Social justice was the major electoral theme of the SPD, and Heil may continue to shape it. Two important tasks are the introduction of the new minimum wage of 12 euros, more than 20 percent more than it is now, and ensuring a stable pension provision. Both were SPD campaign promises.
Build: Klara Geywitz (45, SPD)
The Brandenburg Member of Parliament Klara Geywitz must ensure that Germany receives 400,000 new homes every year at the new Ministry of Construction and Housing. Geywitz is best known in Germany for the (failed) attempt in 2019 to get the duo leadership of the SPD together with Scholz. From 2004 to 2019 she sat in the parliament of the state of Brandenburg, as the direct representative of her home district. Like Scholz, Geywitz lives in Potsdam.
Economy and Climate Protection: Robert Habeck (52, The Greens)
The new so-called ‘super ministry’ of Economy and Climate Protection will be the domain of Robert Habeck, vice chancellor and, together with Annalena Baerbock, leader of De Groenen. The great promise of this coalition is a fundamentally different approach to climate change. This can only be achieved through rigorous economic and social reforms. The Greens must see to it that the government keeps its word on this matter, and Habeck is primarily responsible. In the words of weekly magazine The mirror: the future of the Greens is in his hands.
Foreign Affairs: Annalena Baerbock (40, The Greens)
The other Greens leader will represent Germany abroad. As far as Baerbock is concerned, foreign policy should revolve around human rights. The post at Foreign Affairs is also an excellent way to promote international cooperation on climate protection. Germany wants to promote the rule of law through strong, proactive diplomacy, including as a facilitator of dialogue. “Silence is not a form of long-term diplomacy,” Baerbock told the left-wing newspaper last week. daily newspaper, on Chinese human rights violations. A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Berlin then asked for ‘mutual respect’.
Finance: Christian Lindner (42, FDP)
It was a hot topic during the election campaign: Habeck or Lindner? Which of the two ambitious men will get the powerful Treasury Department? The Greens wanted to pour tens of billions into a green socio-economic revolution, if necessary by increasing the national debt. The FDP presented itself as the economic conscience of Germany, which would ensure solid finances. Lindner eventually got Finance, but Habeck got a new super ministry. As a result, the two opposites will have to make compromises around the central task of this government: a sustainable German energy transition.
Other ministries
Svenja Schulze (53, SPD), currently Minister of the Environment, will head the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. According to Scholz, she should help ensure ‘that our world is not threatened by climate change and the climate refugees that result from it.’ Scholz’s confidant Wolfgang Schmidt (51, SPD) will be his chief of staff, a post with the rank of minister. Steffi Lemke (53, De Groenen) receives the Environment, her relatively unknown party colleague Anne Spiegel (40, De Groenen) the Ministry of Family, Women and Youth. Marco Buschmann (44, FDP), a veteran FDP member who is close to party leader Lindner, has the right papers for Justice: he received his doctorate summa cum laude from the University of Cologne in 2016. Finally, Volker Wissing (51, FDP) heads the Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, and Bettina Stark-Watzinger (53, FDP) that of Education and Research. In both departments, the liberal FDP can give an impulse to its ardently desired digitization of the German government and society.
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