Matthias W. Birkwald (born 28 September 1961 in

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

) is a German politician ( The Left). Since October 2009 he has been a member of the German

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 ...

Education and early career

Matthias W. Birkwald was born in

. He graduated from the Municipal High School in Erftstadt- Lechenich in 1981 and studied Political Science, Sociology, Philosophy and Political Economy in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

and

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

. He achieved a degree in 1990 as a graduate social scientist.Matthias W. Birkwald, Die Linke
Bundestag.de Especially after his studies, Birkwald was involved in state and federal politics, was a member of the Young Democrats / Young Left NRW, the PDS and the WASG. He ran several times for a seat in the state parliament of NRW and in the Bundestag. From 2003 to 2005, Matthias Birkwald was a personal assistant to the

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Senator for social affairs, health and consumer protection, Heidi Knake-Werner, responsible for social affairs and migration. From 2005 to 2009, he served as bureau chief for Lothar Bisky in the German Bundestag.

Political career

From 1980 to 1996 Birkwald was a member of Young Democrats, who were until the turn of 1982 the youth association of the FDP. In 1986 he joined the IG Metall trade union. From 1988 to 1990, Matthias Birkwald was a member of the renewal movement of the German Communist Party in Cologne and in the Rhineland district. From 1990 to 1994 he served as full-time youth education officer and honorary state manager of the Young Democrats / Young Left NRW. Since the end of 1993, he has been a member of the Democratic Socialist Party (PDS), a member of the WASG since 2005, and since the party's rebuilding, he is now a member of The Left Party. In the PDS, he held several delegate mandates and 1994 campaign director of the North Rhine-Westphalian State Association. From 1994 to 2002 he was a research assistant to the PDS parliamentary group. Birkwald was the first direct candidate in the federal election in 1994 in Cologne's southwest. In 2000, he joined the PDS as a direct candidate for the NRW state election in Cologne and on the state list. In the federal elections in 2002, 2005, 2009 and 2013 and in the state election in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2005, he was again direct candidate of the PDS and the Left respectively in the constituency of Cologne II and the district constituency Cologne I. At the merger convention of the party Die Linke in June 2007, Matthias Birkwald participated as a delegate of the Federal Working Group on Citizens' Rights and Democracy. Within the Left, Birkwald has joined the Socialist Left. He acted in the working group "For a modern repression-free, needs-covering social minimum income security" and is committed to a "solidary minimum pension", whose central foundations he developed. In the federal election on 27 September 2009, Matthias Birkwald moved to the state list of North Rhine-Westphalia in the German Bundestag. He became a full member and chairman of the Left in the Committee on Labor and Social Affairs and pension policy spokesman of his group. Also in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

he was re-elected. Since November 2014 he has been the parliamentary director of the parliamentary group of the Left in the German Bundestag. In 2004 Birkwald announced, that he is not seeking re-election for Bundestag in 2025.Matthias-W-Birkwald.de: Abschiedsrede und Verabschiedung auf der Landesvertreterinnen- und vertreterversammlung der Linken NRW
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Works

* with Christoph Butterwegge & Gerd Bosbach (ed.): ''Armut im Alter. Probleme und Perspektiven der sozialen Sicherung'' (''Poverty in old age. Problems and perspectives of social protection''). Campus-Verlag, Frankfurt / New York 2012,

References

External links

*
Profile of the parliamentary group of the Left in the Bundestag

Matthias Birkwald
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abgeordnetenwatch.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkwald, Matthias 1961 births Living people Politicians from Münster German Communist Party politicians Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany) politicians Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag for Die Linke