Christoph Ploß (born 19 July 1985) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the

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 ...

from the state of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

since 2017. In addition to his parliamentary mandate, Ploß has been serving as Coordinator for the Maritime Industry and Tourism at the

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (, ; abbreviated BMWE, formerly BMWi) is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was previously known as the "Ministry of Economy". It was recreated in 2005 as "Mini ...

since 2025.

Early life

Ploß completed his

abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

at the

Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums The ''Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums'' ( ''Academic School of the Johanneum'', short: Johanneum) is a '' Gymnasium'', or grammar school, in Hamburg, Germany. It is Hamburg's oldest school and was founded in 1529 by Johannes Bugenhagen. The sch ...

in 2005. From 2015 until 2017, he worked in media relations at

Bauer Media Group Heinrich Bauer Publishing (), trade name, trading as Bauer Media Group, is a German multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Hamburg. It operates worldwide and owns more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations, ...

Political career

Ploß became a member of the Bundestag after the

2017 German federal election The 2017 German federal election was held in Germany on 24 September 2017 to elect the List of members of the 19th Bundestag, members of the 19th Bundestag. At stake were at least 598 seats in the Bundestag, as well as 111 Overhang seat, overhan ...

. He is a member of the Committee on European Affairs and the Committee on Transport and Digital Infrastructure. In addition to his committee assignments, Ploß has been chairing the German Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with Arabic-Speaking States in the Middle East since 2022. In 2020,

Roland Heintze Roland Heintze (born 29 April 1973) is a German politician for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU). Life and politics Heintze was born in 1973 in Hamburg and became a member of the CDU in 1994. He was a member of the Hamburg Parliame ...

proposed Ploß as candidate to succeed him as chairman of the CDU in Hamburg; at a party convention, Ploß was subsequently elected by a majority of 86 percent. Ahead of the 2021 elections, Ploß was elected to lead the CDU campaign in Hamburg. Ploß stepped down as chairman in April 2023 and passed the chairmanship to Dennis Thering, who was elected by the party members with 185 out of 197 votes; 8 delegates voted against him, 4 abstained. Ploß remains chairman of the regional group of the CDU in the

and chairman of the CDU Hamburg's regional association CDU Hamburg-Nord.

Political positions

In 2020, Ploß opposed plans to introduce a mandatory women quota within the CDU's regional and national governing bodies by 2025. Ahead of the Christian Democrats'

leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a ...

, Ploß publicly endorsed in 2020

Friedrich Merz Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz (; ; born 11November 1955) is a German politician serving as Chancellor of Germany since 6 May 2025. He has also served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since January 2022, leading the CDU/CSU ...

to succeed

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (; Kramp; born 9 August 1962), sometimes referred to by her initials of AKK, is a retired German politician who served as Federal Ministry of Defence (Germany), Minister of Defence from 2019 to 2021 and as Leader of th ...

as the party's chair.Christoph Ploß: "Friedrich Merz ist gerade nach der Coronakrise der richtige Mann"
''

Die Welt (, ) is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group and it is considered a newspaper of record in Germany. Its leading competitors are the ...

'', 20 September 2020.

References

External links

*
Bundestag biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ploss, Christoph 1985 births Living people Members of the Bundestag for Hamburg Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany People educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums Members of the Bundestag 2025–2029