Axel Bernstein (27 July 1974 – 24 August 2017) was a German politician from the Christian Democratic Union. From

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

until his death he was a member of the

Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein The Schleswig-Holstein Landtag is the state parliament of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It convenes in the state's capital Kiel and currently consists of 69 members of five parties. The current majority consists of a coalition of th ...

Life and career

After

graduating A graduation is the awarding of a diploma by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it, which can also be called commencement, congregation, convocation or invocation. The date of the graduation ...

from the Dahlmannschule in

Bad Segeberg Bad Segeberg (; ) is a German town of 16,000 inhabitants, located in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, capital of the district (Kreis) Segeberg. It is situated approximately northeast of Hamburg, and west of Lübeck. It is famous for its annual ...

in 1994, Bernstein first served as a military service officer and later worked as a

reserve officer A military reserve force is a military organization whose members (reservists) have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional m ...

in the

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

. In 1996 he began studying medieval and modern history,

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and public law at the Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel, which he completed in 2002 with a Magister Artium. He then worked as a press and public relations officer at the CDU state association in Schleswig-Holsteinactive and acted as office manager of the CDU state chairman. From 2005 to 2010, Bernstein was editor-in-chief of the ''Schleswig-Holstein-Kurier'' and completed his doctorate in 2009 . From 2002 he worked independently in the field of political communication consulting and

management consulting Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultant ...

. Bernstein was an

Evangelical Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

. On 24 August 2017, Bernstein was found lifeless on his property in Wahlstedt after a fall, the doctor could only determine his death. He was 43 years old. He was married to fellow CDU politician Melanie Bernstein and had two children.

Political career

While still at school, Bernstein became a member of the

Young Union The Junge Union Deutschlands (English: Young Union of Germany) or JU is the joint youth organisation of the CDU/CSU coalition in Germany. Membership is limited to individuals between 14 and 35 years of age. The Junge Union claims to be the large ...

in 1992 and was local chairman of the Young Union

Wahlstedt Wahlstedt () is a town in the district of Segeberg in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Geography The town lies about 50 km north of Hamburg, 40 km south of Kiel and 30 km west of Lübeck. It is about seven kilometers west of Bad Segeb ...

from the year he joined until 1996. In 1993 he also joined the CDU and since then has been a civil member of the CDU parliamentary group in Wahlstedt. From 1994 to 2002 he was on the district board of the Young Union Segeberg, from 1997 as district chairman. He was first elected to the district executive of the CDU Segeberg in 1995 and has served as its deputy district chairman since 2001. From 1998 to 2008 he was a member of the district council. In 2001, Bernstein was elected deputy state chairman of the Young Union Schleswig-Holstein and held this position until 2005. From 2003 to 2008 he was deputy chairman of the CDU district parliamentary group and from 2005 chairman of the CDU in Wahlstedt. On 6 November 2015, the CDU state board of Schleswig-Holstein elected him state manager at the suggestion of state chairman

Ingbert Liebing Ingbert Liebing (born 11 May 1963) is a German lobbyist and former politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as a member of the Bundestag from 2005 until 2017, where he represented Nordfriesland – Dithmarschen Nord. From 20 ...

. He held this position from 9 November 2015 to 31 October 2016.

Legislative career

From 2005 to 2009 he was environmental policy spokesman for the CDU parliamentary group and in his function as chairman of the parliamentary group working group on

the environment The natural environment or natural world encompasses all life, biotic and abiotic component, abiotic things occurring nature, naturally, meaning in this case not artificiality, artificial. The term is most often applied to Earth or some parts ...

he was a member of the parliamentary group executive committee. After being re-elected in the

2009 Schleswig-Holstein state election The 2009 Schleswig-Holstein state election was held on 27 September 2009 to elect the members of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein. It was held on the same day as the 2009 German federal election, 2009 federal election and the 2009 Brandenburg st ...

, he was Parliamentary Secretary. From 2012 he was media policy spokesman for the CDU parliamentary group and a member of the interior and legal committee, from 2014 chairman of the parliamentary group working group on interior and law and police spokesman for his parliamentary group. Bernstein was elected as member of the

in the 2005 Schleswig-Holstein state election with 49.8 percent of the first votes as a directly elected member for the . In the early state elections in Schleswig-Holstein in 2009, was re-elected with 41.0 percent of the first votes, as well as in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. In the 2017 state elections, he (with 43.1 percent of the first votes) was again given the direct mandate of his constituency for the 19th electoral term, but due to his death, Lübeck CDU district chairwoman moved into the state parliament just a few months later.

Publications

* ''Die Gebietsreform in Schleswig-Holstein. Die Neugliederung der Kreise in den 1960er und 1970er Jahren'' (= ''IZRG-Schriftenreihe''. Band 14). Verlag für Regionalgeschichte,

Gütersloh Gütersloh () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the region of Ostwestfalen-Lippe and the administrative region of Detmold (administrative region), Detmold. Gütersloh is the administrative centre for a Gütersloh (distric ...

2010, .

Social engagement

From 2004 Bernstein was a member of the Economic Advisory Board of the Lübeck Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK). From 2007 to 2016 he was deputy chairman of the association for youth and cultural work. He was also engaged as: * Supporting member of the Wahlstedt volunteer fire department and the Bad Segeberg volunteer fire department * Member of the Segeberger Tafel * Member of the local history association of the district of Segeberg * Member of the Society for Schleswig-Holstein History * Member of the Friends of the Air Force Museum of the German Armed Forces * Member of the Association for the Promotion of the Invalidenfriedhof * Member of the Lions Club Wahlstedt

External links

Website of Axel Bernstein

in the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament information system

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, Axel 1974 births 2017 deaths Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians 21st-century German politicians Members of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein University of Kiel alumni Accidental deaths from falls German Lutherans People from Neumünster