John Ehret (born in 1971 in
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...
) is the mayor of
Mauer, elected in 2012. He is the "first 'black' elected mayor in Germany in modern times",
and "Baden-Württembergs erster schwarzer Bürgermeister" ("Baden-Württemberg's first
black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
mayor").
Prior to his position as mayor, Ehret was working at the
Bundeskriminalamt as law enforcement official.
Early life
Ehret's father is an
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
soldier who was stationed in Germany, and his birth mother was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
. Ehret has little knowledge of his biological father.
His mother gave him up for adoption when he was two years old, after she was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
In 1977, aged six, he was adopted by Gertrud and Helmut Ehret who moved to Mauer.
After graduating from high school in 1992, he obtained a diploma to be a police officer at the
Bundeskriminalamt, and subsequently worked in Wiesbaden, Berlin and Meckenheim. He has helped developing countries with the construction of police departments, and in 2012, received an award for his role in helping develop the Afghan police.
See also
*
Afro-Germans
Afro-Germans () or Black Germans () are German Citizens of Sub-Saharan African descent.
Cities such as Hamburg and Frankfurt, which were formerly centres of occupation forces following World War II and more recent immigration, have substantial ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ehret, John
Living people
1971 births
German people of American descent
German people of African-American descent
Mayors of places in Baden-Württemberg