Daniel Wesener (born 5 December 1975) is a German politician of the

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

who served as State Minister (''Senator'') for Finance 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 ...

of Governing Mayor

Franziska Giffey Franziska Giffey (, Süllke, born 3 May 1978) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who is serving as Berlin State Senator for Economy, Energy and Enterprise since 2023. She served as Governing Mayor of Berlin from December ...

of Berlin from December 2021 to April 2023. He was previously state chairman of the Greens from 2011 to 2017, and a member of the State Parliament of Berlin from 2016 to 2022.

Early life and education

Wesener was born and grew up in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. After graduating from the Albert-Schweitzer-Gymnasium and completing community service, he moved to Berlin in 1996. He studied history and art history at the

Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

and at the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...

in the United States, and was a scholarship holder of the Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst. He finished his studies without a degree and worked in the office of

Christian Ströbele A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words ''Christ'' and ''Chr ...

, member of the

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 ...

for the Greens, from 2003 to 2011.

Political career

Wesener has been a member of the Greens since 2001. In 2006, he was elected to the municipal council of

Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg () is the second Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Berlin, formed in 2001 by merging the former East Berlin borough of Friedrichshain and the former West Berlin borough of Kreuzberg. The historic Oberbaum Bridge, formerly ...

, where he co-chaired the Greens group with

Antje Kapek Antje Kapek (born 20 September 1976) is a German politician of Alliance 90/The Greens. From 2012 to 2022, she was co-chair of the Greens parliamentary group in the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin. She was co-lead candidate in the 2016 Berlin state el ...

until 2011. In March 2011, Wesener was elected co-chairman of the Berlin Greens alongside Bettina Jarasch. The two led the coalition negotiations with the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...

under Governing Mayor

Klaus Wowereit Klaus Wowereit (born 1 October 1953) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and was the Governing Mayor of Berlin from 21 October 2001 to 11 December 2014. In 2001 state elections his party won a plurality of the votes, 29 ...

after the

2011 Berlin state election The 2011 Berlin state election was held on 18 September 2011 to elect the members of the 17th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin. The incumbent government consisting of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Left lost its majority. The SPD lost five ...

. Wesener and Jarasch were re-elected as co-leaders in March 2013, achieving an unusually broad support among delegates at the party conference. Wesener won 95.4% of votes, the largest majority for any leader up to that point. He was again re-elected in 2015 with 92% of the vote. Wesener is considered a representative of the left-wing of the Greens. In 2013, he identified himself as a libertarian leftist, and stated that he had stayed distant from party politics for a long time. He was motivated to join the Greens during the "patriotism debate" in the CDU in 2001, fearing a "sociopolitical rollback". In October 2015, Wesener was nominated as part of a four-member team of lead candidates for the

2016 Berlin state election The 2016 Berlin state election was held on 18 September 2016 to elect the members to the 18th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin. The incumbent grand coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was defeated, with ...

alongside Bettina Jarasch, Antje Kapek, and Ramona Pop. Wesener was placed fourth on the state-wide party list, and was elected to the Abgeordnetenhaus. In the Greens faction, he was parliamentary managing officer and spokesman for culture, budget, and finance. Wesener was again fourth on the Greens list for the

2021 Berlin state election The 2021 Berlin state election, ruled invalid in 2022 and 2023 Berlin repeat state election, repeated in 2023, was held on 26 September 2021, on the same day as the 2021 German federal election, which also had to be repeated in parts of Berlin du ...

, and was re-elected. He was subsequently appointed Senator for Finance in the

Giffey senate The Giffey senate was the state government of Berlin between 2021 and 2023, sworn in on 21 December 2021 after Franziska Giffey was elected as Governing Mayor of Berlin by the members of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin. It was the 28th Senate of Be ...

, taking over the role from outgoing SPD senator Matthias Kollatz. In accordance with the principle of separation of mandates, Wesener resigned from the Abgeordnetenhaus at the beginning of 2022, and was succeeded by Catrin Wahlen.

Personal life

Wesener lives with his partner

Dirk Behrendt Dirk Behrendt (born 5 August 1971) is a German lawyer and politician of the Alliance 90/The Greens. He served as Senator for Justice, Consumer Protection and Anti-Discrimination in the Berlin state government from 2016 to 2021, and as a member of ...

Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Berlin-Mitte, Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wesener, Daniel 1975 births Living people Alliance 90/The Greens politicians 21st-century German politicians German gay politicians LGBTQ legislators in Germany 20th-century German LGBTQ people 21st-century German LGBTQ people Humboldt University of Berlin alumni