Christian Hirte (born 23 May 1976) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as 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 ...

since 2008. From 2020 to 2022, he has been the chairman of the CDU in

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

and co-deputy Chairman since then. From 2018 to 2020, Hirte served as

Parliamentary State Secretary A Parliamentary State Secretary (') is a member of the Bundestag given a portfolio to assist a Minister with running a government ministry Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat, office, or directorate) are designations us ...

in 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 ...

and additionally as commissioner of the federal government for the new states in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

Education and early career

Hirte studied law at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

with a scholarship from the

Konrad Adenauer Foundation The Konrad Adenauer Foundation ('' German: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: KAS'') is a German political party foundation associated with but independent of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The foundation's head ...

and passed the first state examination in 2001 and the second in 2003. In 2004 he became an associate in the law firm Dr. Muth & Partner in

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

, and specialized in tax law.

Political career

Hirte joined the centre-right

Junge 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 1993 and the CDU in 1995. Hirte has been a member of the

since 2008. In parliament, he has served on the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (2008-2013), the Committee on Tourism (2009-2013), the Budget Committee (2013-2017) and the Audit Committee (2013-2017). On the Budget Committee, he was his parliamentary group's

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

on the annual budget of the

Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (; abbreviated BMUKN) is a German Cabinet, cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has branches in Bonn and Berlin. The minis ...

. In the negotiations to form a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

under the leadership of

following the 2017 federal elections, Hirte was part of the CDU delegation. Following the formation of the government, he became Parliamentary State Secretary under the leadership of minister

Peter Altmaier Peter Altmaier (born 18 June 1958) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Federal Ministry of Finance (Germany), Acting Minister of Finance from 2017 to 2018 and as Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and ...

. As federal commissioner for the new states, he advocated increased focus on rehabilitating and compensating victims of the East German Communist Party. For the 2021 elections, Hirte was elected to lead the CDU campaign in Thuringia. Following the elections, he unsuccessfully ran for a position as one of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group’s deputy chairs; in an internal vote, he lost against Sepp Müller.

Thuringia affair

Hirte was removed from his office as Parliamentary State Secretary and commissioner for the new states after he posted a congratulatory message on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

to FDP politician

Thomas Kemmerich Thomas Karl Leonard Kemmerich (born 20 February 1965) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as the Minister-President of Thuringia from 5 February to 4 March 2020. With a tenure of only 28 days (3 days if his time ...

for his election as Minister-President in Hirte's home state of Thuringia. Kemmerich had been elected with the votes of the CDU, the FDP and the AfD, marking the first time a Minister-President has been elected with the votes of the AfD. Due to AfD's involvement, the election was widely condemned, including by Chancellor Merkel and CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. Hirte's dismissal was condemned by the

Values Union The Values Union (, WU) is a German party founded on 17 February 2024 by transforming a seven-year-old registered association with the same name.Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation �СБ, ФСБ России (FSB) is the principal security agency of Russia and the main successor agency to the Soviet Union's KGB; its immediate predecessor was the Federal Counterin ...

(FSB) agent (confirmed by German security services), worked for Hirte from March 2023 until 2024. He worked in Hirte's parliamentary office and helped write his speeches regarding the

Russo-Ukrainian war The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

. Despite being an FSB agent, Khrapov had connections with Russian opponents of Vladimir Putin and helped Hirte invite them to the Bundestag. According to

iStories iStories or Important Stories () is an independent Russian website specialising in investigative journalism. The website was founded in 2020 by Russian journalists Roman Anin and Olesya Shmagun. IStories published a number of high-profile inve ...

, the agent was also associated with the Center for Social and Economic Research (CASE) think tank. Khrapov denies the allegations, claiming the reporting of the allegations by the ''

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...

'' was due to German political infighting.

Other activities

Corporate boards

* Klinikum Bad Salzungen, Member of the Supervisory Board

Non-profit organizations

* ''

Gegen Vergessen – Für Demokratie Gegen Vergessen – Für Demokratie (Against Oblivion – For Democracy) is a German organization promoting diversity, tolerance and democratic participation, and opposing racism, prejudice and right-wing and left-wing extremism. It focuses in ...

'', Member of the Board (since 2018) * Point Alpha Stiftung, Member of the Advisory Board *

German Bishops' Conference The German Bishops' Conference () is the episcopal conference of the bishops of the Roman Catholic dioceses in Germany. Members include diocesan bishops, coadjutors, auxiliary bishops, and diocesan administrators. History The first meeting of th ...

, Member of the Working Group on Ecology (2013-2016)

Political positions

In June 2017, Hirte voted against Germany’s introduction of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

. 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 ...

in 2021, Hirte expressed support for a candidacy of

Ralph Brinkhaus Ralph Brinkhaus (born 15 June 1968) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as parliamentary leader of the CDU/CSU group in the Bundestag from 2018 to 2022. Education and early career Brinkhaus was born on 15 J ...

. In the run-up to the Christian Democrats’ leadership election in 2022, he publicly endorsed

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

Armin Laschet Armin Laschet (; born 18 February 1961) is a German politician who served as Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 27 June 2017 to 26 October 2021. He served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 22 January 2021 t ...

as the party’s chair.

Personal life

Hirte is Catholic, married and has three children.christian-hirte.de
/ref>

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirte, Christian 1976 births Members of the Bundestag for Thuringia Living people Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Parliamentary state secretaries of Germany Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany Members of the Bundestag 2025–2029