Christoph Meineke (born March 13, 1979, in

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

) is a German non-party politician and since January 2007 the first directly elected

strong mayor Strong may refer to: Education * The Strong, an educational institution in Rochester, New York, United States * Strong Hall (Lawrence, Kansas), an administrative hall of the University of Kansas * Strong School, New Haven, Connecticut, United ...

of the municipality of Wennigsen (Deister).

Career

In September 2006, Meineke became the youngest full-time

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

elected in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Meineke is the first mayor in Northern

, who ran for and won a direct election for mayor as an independent candidate without the support of a political party or initiative of voters. His election made headlines on a national level and to this day is used as a reference non-party politics in

. Meineke is a member of the presidium of the League of Cities of Lower Saxony ("Niedersächsischer Städtetag") and of the Innovators Club of the German Association of Cities and Municipalities, and has developed a particular expertise on leveraging technology (such as

Web 2.0 Web 2.0 (also known as participative (or participatory) web and social web) refers to websites that emphasize user-generated content, ease of use, participatory culture, and interoperability (i.e., compatibility with other products, systems, a ...

capabilities) in local politics. He was also a member of the working committee of the highly renowned Reinhard-Mohn-Price (formerly known as the Carl-Bertelsmann-Price), judging worldwide projects on democracy and participation. He established citizen participation programs in his city and received awards like the first German "Award for Digital Participation" in 2012 or got nominated for the German sustainability award in the category 'Governance and Administration'.

Background

After graduating from the Matthias-Claudius-Gymnasium in

Gehrden Gehrden () is a town in the Hanover (district), district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately southwest of Hanover and next to the recreation area Deister. Notable people * Werner von Siemens (1816–1892), inve ...

, Meineke studied economics at the Vienna University of Economics, the

University of St. Gallen The University of St. Gallen (HSG) is a research university located in St. Gallen, Switzerland, that specialises in business administration, economics, law, international affairs, and computer science. It was established in 1898. It consistent ...

and the

Zeppelin University Zeppelin University (German: ''Zeppelin Universität'', ZU) is a private research university in Friedrichshafen, Germany. The university is accredited by the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of Baden-Württemberg. The university was es ...

Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''K ...

. He is currently also working toward a doctorate degree in economics under Prof. Birger Priddat at

Witten/Herdecke University Witten/Herdecke University is a private, state-recognized, nonprofit university in Witten, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was the first German private institution of higher education to receive accreditation as a "Universität", a status ...

. In 2012, he completed the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

Publications

Kommunalwahlkampf 2.0 (Municipal elections 2.0 experiences and tips), in: F.-R. Habbel/A.Huber (Hrsg.): Web 2.0 für Kommunen und Kommunalpolitik, Boizenburg: Verlag Werner Hülsbusch, 2008. (In German)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meineke, Christoph 1979 births Living people Mayors of places in Lower Saxony Politicians from Hanover Vienna University of Economics and Business alumni