Gunther Krichbaum (born 4 May 1964) is a German lawyer and politician of the

Christian Democratic Union of Germany The Christian Democratic Union of Germany ( , CDU ) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is the major party of the centre-right in German politics. Friedrich Merz has been federal chairman of the CDU since 31 ...

(CDU) who has been a 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 the

2002 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2002. * 2002 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2002 Comorian presidential election * 2002 East Timorese presidential election * 2002 Fijian municipal election * 2002 Hong Kong Chief Executive election * ...

. In addition to his work in parliament, Krichbaum has been serving as

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

at the

Federal Foreign Office The Federal Foreign Office (, ; abbreviated AA) is the Foreign minister, foreign ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany, a federal agency (Germany), federal agency responsible for both the country's foreign policy and its relationship with ...

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 ...

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 ...

since 2025. In parliament, Krichbaum was a member of the Committee on Affairs of the European Union from 2002 to 2025. From 2007 to 2021 he served as the Committee's chairman, in 2021 to 2025 he was the CDU/CSU group's spokesperson on European affairs. In addition to German, Krichbaum is fluent in English and French.

Early life and career

After graduating from high school at Solitude grammar school in Stuttgart-Weilimdorf in 1984, Krichbaum completed his

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

in Sigmaringen and Dillingen / Danube. From 1985 onwards he studied law at the

Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen Eberhard is an old Germanic name meaning the strength or courage of a wild boar. People First name *Eberhard of Friuli (815–866), Duke and key figure in the Carolingian Empire *Eberhard of Béthune (died 1212), Flemish grammarian *Eberhard I, Du ...

and the

Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality ...

as well as in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

and

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

which he finished in 1991 with the first state examination in law. During his studies, he received a scholarship from the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation and became a member of the

student association A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organization ...

Ulmia Tübingen. After completing his legal clerkship in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

, Krichbaum passed the second state examination in 1995 and subsequently worked until 2002 as a self-employed economic consultant for MLP AG in

Pforzheim Pforzheim () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany. It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the ...

Political career

Krichbaum joined the

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 1979 and also the CDU in 1983. He was

deputy chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the CDU city association Pforzheim from 1999 to 2009 and he serves a district chairman of the CDU Enzkreis / Pforzheim since 2009. Krichbaum has been a member of the German

since the

. From 2005, he served as a deputy spokesman for the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

of the

CDU/CSU CDU/CSU, unofficially the Union parties ( ) or the Union, is a centre-right Christian democratic and conservative political alliance of two political parties in Germany: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Social U ...

parliamentary group, under the leadership of the group's chairman

Volker Kauder Volker Kauder (born 3 September 1949) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as parliamentary group leader of the ruling CDU/CSU faction in the German ''Bundestag'' from 2005 to 2018, during which h ...

. During that time, he was also 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 ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. From 2007 until 2021, Krichbaum chaired the Committee on European Affairs. In addition to his committee assignments, he 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 ...

since 2019. Krichbaum was always directly elected as a representative of the

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

in the

. In his first election in 2002, he was able to regain for the CDU the direct mandate lost in 1998 to the SPD against the state leader of the SPD Baden-Württemberg,

Ute Vogt Ute Vogt (born 3 October 1964) is a German lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as a member of the from 1994 to 2005 and from 2009 to 2021. Since 2021, she has been serving as president of the German Life Saving ...

. He defended this in 2005 with 46.9% and in 2009 with 40.7% of the first votes. In the general election in 2013, he reached with 49.5% of the first votes the best result of the CDU in this constituency since the federal election in 1983. In his fifth federal elections 2017, he could not repeat this result, but won the direct mandate with 36.4% of the votes. In the negotiations to form a fourth coalition government under

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 ...

following the 2017 federal elections, Krichbaum was part of the working group on European policy, led by

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 ...

Alexander Dobrindt Alexander Dobrindt (; born 7 June 1970) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) who has been serving as the Federal Minister of the Interior in the government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz since 2025. From 2017 to ...

and Achim Post. On the EU level, Krichbaum serves on the board of the European People´s Party (EPP).

Other activities

Atlantik-Brücke Atlantik-Brücke (, ''Atlantic Bridge'') is a private non-profit association to Lobbying, promote German-American understanding and Atlanticism. Founded in Hamburg in 1952, it was located in Bonn between 1983 and 1999 and is now located in Berl ...

, Member *

Franco-German Institute The Deutsch-Französisches Institut (DFI) is an independent non-profit organization devoted to research on and documentation of contemporary Franco-German relations. The institute is funded by the German Foreign Office, the regional government ...

(DFI), Member of the Board * Robert Schuman Foundation, Member of the Board of Directors *

Institute for European Politics The Institute for European Politics (IEP; German: ''Institut für Europäische Politik'') is a German foreign and European policy research centre based in Berlin. It is an independent non-governmental organization focused on the research of Euro ...

(IEP), Member of the Board of Trustees * Europa-Union Deutschland, Member of the Board * German-Romanian Association Pforzheim, Member of the Board * Federal Association of Lebenshilfe supporting people with disabilities, Member * Friends of the

Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences Pforzheim University is a public university of applied science in Germany. Located in Pforzheim, it was created to meet the demand for specialists in the jewelry industry and science, before it grew to become one of the most important and resear ...

, Member * 1. CfR Pforzheim, Member * Church synod of the protestant church Pforzheim-Land, Member

Recognition

The

Queen of the Netherlands The monarchy of the Netherlands is governed by the country's charter and constitution, roughly a third of which explains the mechanics of succession, accession, and abdication; the roles and duties of the monarch; the formalities of communica ...

appointed Krichbaum to the

Grand Officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

of the

Order of Orange Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

, in 2009 he was appointed Officer of the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

by the

French President The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the pos ...

and in 2010 appointed by the Romanian President as Commander of the

Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the Order of Michael the Brave. It is the oldest Order of Romania. It is awarded by the President ...

. In 2012 he received the

Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria. It is divided into 15 classes and is the highest award in the Austrian national honours system. History The Decoration of Hono ...

Political positions

In June 2017, Krichbaum 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 2018, he publicly endorsed

to succeed

as the party’s chair.

Personal life

Krichbaum is

protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, married a second time and father of three children from his first marriage."Curriculum Vitae on the official website"
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References

External links