Anke Spoorendonk (born 21 September 1947 in Busdorf) is a German politician from the

South Schleswig Voters' Association The South Schleswig Voters' AssociationOther translations include ''South Schleswig Voter Alliance'', ''South Schleswig Voters' Committee'', ''South Schleswig Voter Federation'', ''South Schleswig Voters Group'', ''South Schleswig Voters League'', ...

(SSW). From 12 June 2012, until 28 June 2017 she was the Minister of Justice, Culture and European Affairs in the state government of

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

Life

Spoorendonk is a part of the Danish minority in Schleswig-Holstein. In 1976, she graduated from the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

with a master's degree in

German studies German studies is an academic field that researches, documents and disseminates German language, literature, and culture in its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies therefore often focus on German culture, German h ...

and History. From 1977 to 1996 she was a teacher at the Duborg-Skolen in

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish language, Danish and ; ; ) is an independent city, independent town in the far north of the Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. After Kiel and Lübeck, it is the third-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg's ...

. Spoorendonk is a widow and has two children.

Political life

From 1996 to 2012, she was a member of 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 ...

of Schleswig-Holstein, representing the SSW, which represents the interests of the Danish and the Frisian minorities. In this period she was as well the leader of the SSW group in the state parliament. After the 2012 election, she was appointed minister for Justice, Culture and European Affairs in the newly formed coalition government called Coastal Coalition which consisted of the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

, the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

and the SSW. It was the first time in history that this coalition has been formed. The government was led by the Social Democrat

Torsten Albig Torsten Albig (born 25 May 1963) is a German politician from the Social Democratic Party of Germany. From 2012 until 2017 he served as the 13th Minister President of Schleswig-Holstein. Early life and education Albig grew up in Ostholstein and ...

. Because of her appointment as a minister, she resigned her office as a member of the

to pass it on to another representative from her party the SSW.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spoorendonk, Anke 1947 births Living people German people of Danish descent University of Copenhagen alumni People from Schleswig-Flensburg 21st-century German women politicians Ministers of the Schleswig-Holstein State Government South Schleswig Voters' Association politicians Women government ministers of Germany