Matthias Platzeck (born 29 December 1953) is a German politician. He was
Minister President
A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. It ...
of
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 square ...
from 2002 to 2013 and party chairman of the
SPD from November 2005 to April 2006.
On 29 July 2013 Platzeck announced his resignation from his office in August for health reasons.
Early life and education
Platzeck was born in
Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
, the son of a physician and a medical-technical assistant. After attending
Polytechnic Secondary School
The polytechnic secondary school, officially ''ten-class general educational polytechnic secondary school'', abbreviation POS, pronounced P-O-S, was the standard type of school in the school system of East Germany. The POS was established in 1959 ...
in Potsdam from 1960 to 1966, he went through
Extended Secondary School
The extended secondary school, officially ''twelve-class general educational polytechnic secondary school'', abbreviation EOS, was the standard institution of higher education in the education system of East Germany. It finished with the final e ...
in
Kleinmachnow. Following 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 yea ...
in 1972 and
military service
Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft ( conscription).
Some nations (e.g., Mexico) requ ...
he studied biomedical cybernetics at the
Technische Universität Ilmenau
The Technische Universität Ilmenau (''Ilmenau University of Technology'', TU Ilmenau) is a German public research university located in Ilmenau, Thuringia, central Germany. Founded in 1894, it has five academic departments (faculties) with ...
from 1974 onward. After his diploma in 1979, Platzeck worked at the institute for hygiene in
Karl-Marx-Stadt
Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany ...
(today
Chemnitz) in 1979–1980 and the general hospital in
Bad Freienwalde from 1980 to 1982. From 1982 to 1990 he was head of the department for environmental hygiene at the agency for hygiene in Potsdam.
Political career

Platzeck co-founded ARGUS, a Potsdam environmental organization, with and at the initiative of
Carola Stabe in April 1988. In April 1989, he joined the
Liberal Democratic Party of Germany
The Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (german: Liberal-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands, LDPD) was a political party in East Germany. Like the other allied bloc parties of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in the National Front, it ...
but left it shortly thereafter. He represented ARGUS at the founding of the ''Grüne Liga'' association of local environmental organizations in
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
in November 1989. During the political "Wende" of 1989–1990 that led to
German Reunification
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
he was their speaker at the
East German Round Table talks. From February to April 1990 he represented the oppositional radical Green Party as Minister without Portfolio in the last non-elected but legitimate government of the GDR. Platzeck was elected member of the
Volkskammer
__NOTOC__
The Volkskammer (, ''People's Chamber'') was the unicameral legislature of the German Democratic Republic (colloquially known as East Germany).
The Volkskammer was initially the lower house of a bicameral legislature. The upper house ...
in 1990 for the Green Party and was parliamentary secretary of the joined faction of Greens and Bündnis 90 (
Alliance 90).
After
German reunification
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
, he was one of 144 members of the
Volkskammer
__NOTOC__
The Volkskammer (, ''People's Chamber'') was the unicameral legislature of the German Democratic Republic (colloquially known as East Germany).
The Volkskammer was initially the lower house of a bicameral legislature. The upper house ...
co-opted to the
Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the German Federalism, federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representat ...
. He did not run for a full term in the
1990 German federal election
Federal elections were held in Germany on 2 December 1990 to elect the members of the 12th Bundestag. This was the first all-German election since the Nazi show election in April 1938, the first multi-party all-German election since that of M ...
.
In October 1990 Platzeck became a member of the
Landtag of Brandenburg
The Landtag of Brandenburg is the unicameral legislature of the state of Brandenburg in Germany.
Its 88 members of parliament are usually elected every 5 years.
It is responsible for deciding on state laws, controlling the state government an ...
for Bündnis 90 (Alliance 90). He was Minister for the Environment in a coalition government with the
SPD and
FDP from 1990 to 1994, when the coalition broke up. Rejecting the merger of his party with the West German
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundati ...
he did not join the new party ''Bündnis 90/Die Grünen'' in 1993. Instead, he became a member of the SPD on 6 June 1995.
After the break of the Brandenburg coalition in 1994 Platzeck left his faction and remained Minister for the Environment under
Minister-president
A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...
Manfred Stolpe
Manfred Stolpe (16 May 1936 – 29 December 2019) was Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs of Germany from 2002 until 2005. Before, he was Ministerpräsident of the state Brandenburg from 1990 until 2002. Stolpe was, after ...
. He became popular nationwide for organizing public support for the affected population during a flood of the
Oder river
The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flow ...
in 1997. In 1998 he was elected mayor of
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 square ...
's capital Potsdam and rejected the offer of Chancellor
Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of German ...
to join the federal cabinet as
Minister for Transport.
In 2000 Platzeck was elected chairman of the SPD in Brandenburg and in 2002 he succeeded Manfred Stolpe as Minister-president. He was re-elected to the
Landtag
A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non- ...
(state parliament) in 2004. With the SPD as strongest political force he could continue his coalition with the
CDU. He served as
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...
of the
Bundesrat in 2004/05.
When
Franz Müntefering
Franz Müntefering (; born 16 January 1940) is a German politician. He was Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from 2004 to 2005 and again from 18 October 2008 to 13 November 2009. He served as the minister of Labour and Social Affairs, ...
resigned as party chairman of the SPD because of internal conflicts, Platzeck was elected party chairman on 15 November 2005 with an overwhelming majority of 99.8 percent.
In January, February and April 2006 Platzeck suffered three severe
hearing loss
Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spoken la ...
es. Due to his ill health he resigned from his post as chairman on 10 April 2006, only five months after becoming chairman.
Life after politics
Both in 2015 and 2016, Platzeck and
Bodo Ramelow
Bodo Ramelow (; born 16 February 1956) is a German politician who has served since 4 March 2020 as Minister-President of Thuringia, an office he previously held from 2014 to 5 February 2020. He is the first head of a German state government to ...
were appointed as unpaid arbitrators for negotiations between
Deutsche Bahn
The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder.
describes itself as the ...
and the
German Train Drivers' Union (GDL). In 2016, he also served as unpaid arbitrator for negotiations between German airline
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding ...
and its flight attendants' union.
From 2018 until 2019, Platzeck co-chaired the German government's so-called coal commission, which is tasked to develop a masterplan before the end of the year on how to
phase-out coal and create a new economic perspective for the country's coal-mining regions.
In 2019, Platzeck was appointed by the
Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community
The Federal Ministry of the Interior and for Community (german: Bundesministerium des Innern und für Heimat, ; '' Heimat'' also translates to "homeland"), abbreviated , is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its mai ...
to chair the committee that oversaw the preparations for the 30th anniversary of
German reunification
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
.
In late 2020, Platzeck was appointed as arbitrator in a conflict between
Charité
The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine) is one of Europe's largest university hospitals, affiliated with Humboldt University and Free University Berlin. With numerous Collaborative Research Ce ...
and the
United Services Trade Union (ver.di); negotiations were successfully concluded by February 2021. Following her election as
Governing Mayor of Berlin
The Governing Mayor (german: Regierender Bürgermeister) of Berlin is the head of government, presiding over the Berlin Senate. As Berlin is an independent city as well as one of the constituent States of Germany (''Bundesländer''), the office i ...
in September 2021,
Franziska Giffey
Franziska Giffey (, Süllke, born 3 May 1978) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as Governing Mayor of Berlin since December 2021, the first woman elected to this position. She previously served as ...
mandated Platzeck with helping to end a six-weeks long strike of
Vivantes Hospital Group employees.
Platzeck was nominated by his party as delegate to the
Federal Conventions for the purpose of electing the
President of Germany
The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...
in
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...
.
In addition, Platzeck holds a variety of paid and unpaid positions, including the following:
* LEIPA Georg Leinfelder GmbH, chairman of the supervisory board (since 2015)
* German-Russian Forum, Chairman
*
Foundation for the Reconstruction of the Garrison Church, member of the board of trustees
* Internationales Bildungs- und Begegnungswerk (IBB), member of the board of trustees
* Jewish Film Festival Berlin & Brandenburg (JFBB), member of the advisory board
*
Friedrich Ebert Foundation
The Friedrich Ebert Foundation (''German: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: FES'') is a German political party foundation associated with, but independent from, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Established in 1925 as the ...
(FES), member of the board
* Schloss Neuhardenberg Foundation, member of the board of trustees
Political positions and controversy

Platzeck caused controversy in August 2010 when he called the
reunification of Germany
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
on 3 October 1990 an ''
Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the Nazi Germany, German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "Ger ...
'', the word used by
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
to defend the Nazi
annexation of
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
in 1938. In response,
Chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Op ...
rejected Platzeck's choice of words and argued that reunification was precisely what east Germans had wanted, not a process forced upon them.
On 18 November 2014, Platzeck called for the international legitimization of the
annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation
In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia ...
, drawing criticism. He has revised his opinion. His comparison (2016) of the deployment of the
Bundeswehr
The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...
to
Lithuania as part of the
NATO Enhanced Forward Presence
Enhanced Forward Presence (EFP) is a NATO-allied forward-deployed defense and deterrence military force in Central and Northern Europe. This posture in Central Europe through Poland and Northern Europe through Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, is in ...
with
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...
was also criticized.
Hannes Adomeit
Hannes Adomeit (9 November 1942 – 25 April 2022) was a German political scientist who worked as a political analyst with emphasis on foreign policy, security and defense, transatlantic perspectives in Europe. He worked with the American Insti ...
criticised in 2020 Platzeck's book about Russia .
He has been listed by
Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
among 12 Germans who got played by Putin.
12 Germans who got played by Putin
/ref>
Personal life
From 1978 to 1984, Platzeck was married to Ute Bankwitz with whom he has three daughters. In 2007, he married Jeanette Jesorka. The ceremony took place one year later in Temmen-Ringenwalde, with guests including Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Frank-Walter Steinmeier (; born 5 January 1956) is a German politician serving as President of Germany since 19 March 2017. He was previously Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2017, as well as Vice Ch ...
, Günther Jauch and Andreas Dresen
Andreas Dresen (born 16 August 1963) is a German film director. His directing credits include ''Cloud 9'', ''Summer in Berlin'', '' Grill Point'' and ''Night Shapes''. His film ''Stopped on Track'' premiered at the Un Certain Regard section at th ...
.
Book
*Matthias Platzeck: ''Zukunft braucht Herkunft. Deutsche Fragen, ostdeutsche Antworten.'' Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2009,
*Matthias Platzeck: ''Wir brauchen eine neue Ostpolitik −Russland als Partner.'' Propyläen Verlag , 2020
References
*
*
*
''Matthias Platzeck löst mit seiner historischen These zur Integration der Linken Irritationen aus'', Märkische Allgemeine, 1. November 2009
*Thorsten Metzner
''In zwei Wochen soll klar sein, ob Dreher geht''
In: Der Tagesspiegel, 25. November 1998
External links
Official biography
(German)
Short official biography
Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Platzeck, Matthias
1953 births
Living people
People from Potsdam
Presidents of the German Bundesrat
Ministers of the Brandenburg State Government
Members of the Landtag of Brandenburg
Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians
Leaders of political parties in Germany
Ministers-President of Brandenburg
Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Ilmenau University of Technology alumni