Norbert Lammert, born in 1948 in Bochum has been Chairman of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung since January 2018. He has actively participated in German politics for over almost four decades and helped in shaping important offices. For twelve years, he was President of the German Bundestag, of which he was a member between 1980 and 2017. In the governments of Helmut Kohl, he served as Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministries of Education and Science, Economic Affairs and then Transport as well as Federal Government Coordinator of Aerospace Policy. In 2003, Lammert was awarded a lectureship for political science at the Ruhr University Bochum, which appointed him honorary professor in 2008. His numerous publications deal with social, economic and cultural policy issues.

Further information in the biogram

Verena Blechinger-Talcott, born in 1966 in Deggendorf, Germany, has been Professor of Japanese Studies (Japanese Politics and Political Economics) at the Department of History and Cultural Studies, East Asian Studies – Japanese Studies at Freie Universität Berlin since 2004; she has been Vice President (for International Affairs) of Freie Universität since 2018. Her research focuses on Japanese and East Asian Politics, Comparative Politics, Campaign Finance, Government-Business Relations.

Hermann Gröhe, born in 1961 in Uedem, was Federal Minister for Health between 2013 and 2018. Since the end of March 2018, he has been Deputy Chairman of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group in the German Bundestag. There he is responsible for the topics of Labour and Social Affairs as well as Economic Cooperation and Development. From 1989 to 1994, Hermann Gröhe was Federal Chairman of the Junge Union. In 1994, he entered the German Bundestag for the first time, and has been a member without interruption since. Between 2009 and 2013 he was General Secretary of the CDU of Germany.

Further information in the biogram

Tamara Zieschang, born in 1970 in Saarlouis and raised in Lingen (Ems), has been Minister of the Interior and Sport of Saxony-Anhalt since 2021. Previously, she was State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, in the Ministry of the Interior and Sport of Saxony-Anhalt, and in the Ministry of Science and Economics. She completed her second state law exam in 2000 and received her doctorate from the University of Bonn the following year.

Bernhard Vogel, born in 1932 in Göttingen, has been Honorary Chairman of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung since 2010. In 1965 he won the direct mandate in the Neustadt-Speyer (Palatinate) constituency and entered the German Bundestag. As early as two years later, in 1967, he was appointed Minister of Culture in the state government of Rhineland Palatinate.  From 1976 to 1988 he led the state government of Rhineland Palatinate as Minister-President. In 1972 he became President of the Central Committee of German Catholics; he held the office until 1976. Between 1989 and 1995 and again from 2001 to 2009, Bernhard Vogel was Chairman of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. In 1992, he moved to Thuringia as Head of Government and remained in office until 2003. 

Further information in the biogram

Christoph Brand is an International Advisor at Goldman Sachs. Prior to this, he worked for Goldman Sachs in Frankfurt, recently as Partner and Chairman of Investment Banking Deutschland and was involved in various transactions in the areas of Corporate Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Shares and Bond Issues as well as Privatisations. As a shareholder, he has been Deputy Chairman of the supervisory board (Family Board) of the domestic appliance manufacturer Miele & Cie. KG since 1999. From 1985 to 1987, Christoph Brand was Federal Chairman of the Circle of Christian Democratic Students (RCDS) and co-opted member of the Christian Democratic Union’s (CDU) Federal Executive Committee.

Michael Thielen, born in 1959 in Prüm/Eifel has been Secretary General of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung since 2008. Between 2006 and 2008 he was Secretary of State at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. From 1987 he was employed in the office of the Bundestag member Jürgen Rüttgers. He then worked as a Consultant for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag. After Rüttgers was appointed Federal Minister for Education, Science, Research and Technology by Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl, from 1995 Thielen took over as Head of the Minister’s Office and the Executive Staff in the Federal Ministry for Education, Science, Research and Technology. From 1999 to 2005 he was Head of Division at the CDU party headquarters.