Franziska Kersten (born 19 December 1968) is a German veterinarian and politician of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD) who has been serving as a 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 ...

since 2021, representing the

Börde – Jerichower Land A ''börde'' (; plural: ''börden'') is a region of highly fertile lowland in North Germany, a "fertile plain". These landscapes often cover great areas and are particularly important for arable farming on account of their rich soils. These reg ...

district.

Early life and career

Kersten was born in 1968 in the East German town of

Lutherstadt Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German federal c ...

and grew up in Pretzsch, Wittenberg. She studied

veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, medical diagnosis, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all a ...

at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

. From 2019 to 2020, Kersten served as vice president of the German Environment Agency (UBA). From 2020 to 2021, she worked at the

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

Political career

Kersten was elected directly to the Bundestag in the 2021 federal elections. In the negotiations to form a so-called

traffic light coalition In German politics, a traffic light coalition () is a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Alliance 90/The Greens. It is named after the parties' traditional colours, respectively red, y ...

of the SPD, the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

and the

Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...

(FDP) following the elections, she was part of her party's delegation in the working group on agriculture and nutrition, co-chaired by

Till Backhaus Till Backhaus (born Neuhaus 13 March 1959) is a German politician. As the German Democratic Republic approached its end as a standalone state, Backhaus was one of those who in December 1989 (re-)founded the Social Democratic Party, more than ...

Renate Künast Renate Elly Künast (born 15 December 1955) is a German politician of Alliance 90/The Greens party. She was the Minister of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture from 2001 to 2005 and subsequently served as chairwoman of her party's parliame ...

and

Carina Konrad Carina Konrad (born 19 September 1982) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Rhineland-Palatinate from 2017 to 2025. Early life and career Konrad completed her stu ...

. In parliament, Kersten has since been serving on the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, the Committee on Food and Agriculture and the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development. Within her parliamentary group, she is part of working groups on criminal policy and on the environment, nature conservation, nuclear safety and consumer protection. In addition to her committee assignments, Kersten has been a member of the German delegation to the

Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly The Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly (, ''APFA''; , ''DFPV'') is a joint body of the German Bundestag and the French National Assembly formed to enable cooperation between both houses. Background The French and German parliaments had p ...

. She has also been an alternate member of the German delegation to the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

(PACE) since 2022. In the Assembly, she serves on the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development; the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media; and the Sub-Committee on Culture, Diversity and Heritage. In the negotiations to form a ''

Grand Coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political party, political parties of opposing political spectrum, political ideologies unite in a coalition government. Causes of a grand coali ...

'' under the leadership of

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 ...

's Christian Democrats ( CDU together with the Bavarian

CSU CSU may refer to: Universities and university systems United States * Columbia Southern University, in Orange Beach, Alabama * California State University system * Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, Colorado * Connecticut State Univers ...

) and the SPD following the 2025 German elections, Kersten led the SPD delegation in the working group on rural areas, agriculture, nutrition and the environment; her counterparts from the other parties were

Steffen Bilger Steffen Bilger (born 16 February 1979) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and member of the Bundestag for the constituency of Ludwigsburg. From 2018 until 2021, Bilger served as Parliamentary State Secretary at the ...

and Artur Auernhammer.

Other activities

International Federation for Equestrian Sports The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (, FEI) is the international sport governing body, governing body of equestrianism, equestrian sports. The FEI came into being following the Olympic Congress in Lausanne (SUI) in 1921 from May ...

(FEI), Member

Personal life

Kersten is married to a fellow veterinarian.Anke Hoffmeister (1 March 2016)
Landtagswahl: Mit Visionen und Menschenverstand
'' Volksstimme''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kersten, Franziska Living people 1968 births Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2025–2029