Johannes Friedrich Kretschmann (born 14 July 1978) is a German politician from the

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (for ...

. He was briefly a

member of the German Bundestag Member of the German Parliament (german: Mitglied des Deutschen Bundestages) is the official name given to a deputy in the German Bundestag. ''Member of Parliament'' refers to the elected members of the federal Bundestag Parliament at the Reich ...

in 2025 .

Life

Johannes Kretschmann grew up as the second of three children of the later Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg

Winfried Kretschmann Winfried Kretschmann (born 17 May 1948) is a German politician serving as Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg since 2011. A member of the Alliance '90/Greens, he was President of the Bundesrat and ''ex officio'' deputy to the President of ...

and his wife Gerlinde, first in

Leinfelden-Echterdingen Leinfelden-Echterdingen ( Swabian: ''Laefälda-Ächdordeng'') is a town in the district of Esslingen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located approximately 10 km south of Stuttgart, near the Stuttgart Airport and directly adjacent to ...

and from 1984 in the

Sigmaringen Sigmaringen ( Swabian: ''Semmerenga'') is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen district. Sigmaringen is renowned for its castle, Schloss Sigmaringen, ...

district of . In 1998 he graduated from the . From 1998 to 2009 he studied religious studies, Romanian studies and

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...

at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in poli ...

and the

Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (german: link=no, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public university, public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established ...

. He graduated with a

Magister Artium A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

. From 2008 to 2010 he was a

opening act A opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, or supporting act, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform again a ...

at ''

hart aber fair ''hart aber fair'' (English: "hard but fair") is a German weekly political talk show. In the 75-minute broadcast on Monday evening on Das Erste, presenter Frank Plasberg discusses a controversial topic with his guests. Spectators receive addit ...

'', then a ''moster'' at Tübingen and from 2011 to 2012 a

pallbearer A pallbearer is one of several participants who help carry the casket at a funeral. They may wear white gloves in order to prevent damaging the casket and to show respect to the deceased person. Some traditions distinguish between the roles ...

at a

funeral home A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral. Services ...

. From 2011 to 2019 he worked as an for the Swiss online newspaper ''bluewin.ch''. From February to May 2022, he worked as a for Anja Reinalter,

member of the Bundestag Member of the German Parliament (german: Mitglied des Deutschen Bundestages) is the official name given to a deputy in the German Bundestag. ''Member of Parliament'' refers to the elected members of the federal Bundestag Parliament at the Reich ...

. Kretschmann works as a freelance cultural worker. He is committed to preserving the dialect of Swabian German. He has been a volunteer dialect consultant to the Baden-Württemberg state government since 2019 and a member of the advisory board of the Center for Dialect at the since 2020. He lives in . Kretschmann was initially

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

, but later left the church.

Political career

Kretschmann built up a local group of the Green-Alternative Youth in Sigmaringen in 1994. In 1999 he joined the Greens. Since 2014 he has been a member of the district council of the Sigmaringen district, and since 2019 he has been chairman of the local Green

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council. Parliamenta ...

. In the

2021 German federal election Federal elections were held in Germany on 26 September 2021 to elect the members of the 20th Bundestag. State elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were also held. Incumbent chancellor Angela Merkel, first elected in 2005, chose not ...

, Kretschmann ran in the

Zollernalb – Sigmaringen Zollernalb – Sigmaringen is an electoral constituency (German: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 29 ...

constituency and was ranked 21st on the Green Party's

state list The State List or List-II is a list of 61 items. Initially there were 66 items in the list in Schedule Seven to the Constitution of India. The legislative section is divided into three lists: the Union List, the State List and the Concurrent List ...

. On 27 January 2025, he replaced the MP

Stephanie Aeffner Stephanie Aeffner (born 29 April 1976) is a German politician from Alliance 90/The Greens who has been serving as a Member of the German Bundestag since 2021. Early life Aeffner hails from Frankfurt. Medical career In 2000 Aeffner began s ...

in the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the German Federalism, federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representat ...

for the remaining few weeks of the legislative period after her death. He did not stand in the

2025 German federal election The next German federal election will be held on or before 26 October 2025 to elect the members of the 21st Bundestag. Date The Basic Law and the Federal Election Act provide that federal elections must be held on a Sunday or on a national hol ...

Writings

* ''Antisemitismus und magisches Denken''. Nomos Verlag, Baden-Baden 2010, . * gemeinsam mit Johannes Berreth und Dennis Dreher: ''Neigschmeggd: Schwäbisch vegan''. , München 2023, .

External links

Biographie beim Deutschen Bundestag

Website von Johannes Kretschmann
* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kretschmann, Johannes Living people 1978 births Cookbook writers Swabian German language Dialectologists People from Sigmaringen Alliance 90/The Greens politicians Members of the Bundestag for Baden-Württemberg 21st-century German politicians Free University of Berlin alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Former Roman Catholics