Elke Büdenbender (born 14 January 1962) is a German former

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

. She is also the wife of

Frank-Walter Steinmeier Frank-Walter Steinmeier (; born 5 January 1956) is a German politician who has served as President of Germany since 2017. He was previously Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany), federal minister for foreign affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again f ...

, the current

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international correspondence; the official English title is President of the F ...

Early life

Büdenbender attended intermediate secondary school in

Siegen Siegen () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg (region), Arnsberg region. The university town (n ...

, after which she trained as an industrial clerk at a company in the machine building industry in Siegen. In 1982 she attended Siegerland College in Siegen and then worked as a clerk at a logistics company. In 1985, she began her degree in law at

Justus Liebig University University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the German speaking world, German-speaking w ...

Giessen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the Germany, German States of Germany, state () of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen (district), district of Giessen and the Giessen (region), administrative region of Giessen. The population is appro ...

, where she passed her first state law examination in 1991.

Career

From 1987, Büdenbender worked as a student assistant and later as a research assistant to Professor Brun-Otto Bryde at the Chair of Public Law. She completed her practical legal training at Hanover Regional Court in 1994, when she passed her second state law examination. Thereafter, Büdenbender worked as a judge at Hanover Administrative Court. From 2000, she was a judge at the Berlin Administrative Court. From 2017 to 2022, she was on long-term leave during her husband's first term as president in order to devote her time to being the first lady. From 2022 to 2025, she returned to the court again before retiring.

Other activities

* Anne Frank Educational Centre, Member of the Board of Trustees * German-Israeli Future Forum, Member of the Board of Trustees

Personal life

In 1995 Büdenbender married

, who was elected as the twelfth

on 12 February 2017. They have one daughter. On 24 August 2010, she received a

kidney transplant Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantat ...

that was donated by her husband.

Honours

Foreign Honours

* : Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (5 December 2023) * : Dame Grand Cross of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

(19 November 2021) * : Grand Cross of the

Order of the White Rose of Finland The Order of the White Rose of Finland (; ) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. The President of Finland is the Grand Master of all three orders. The ...

(17 September 2018) * : Grand Cross of the

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon () is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by Christian X of Denmark, King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. Nowaday ...

(16 June 2019) * : Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

(17 September 2019) * : Commander Grand Cross of the

Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars () is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is ''Per aspera ad astra'', meaning "Through hardships towards the ...

(19 February 2019) * : Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (5 July 2021) * : Dame Grand Cross of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OYC) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bestowed by the Kingdom of Spain, alongside the Order of Charles III (established in 1771) and ...

(11 October 2022)Boletín Oficial del Estado
/ref> * : Commander Grand Cross of the

Royal Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star ( Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order o ...

(7 September 2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Budenbender, Elke 1962 births Living people Spouses of presidents of Germany German women judges Frank-Walter Steinmeier University of Giessen alumni Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog Order of the White Rose of Finland Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Netherlands) Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star Dames Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic