Kai Wegner (born 15 September 1972) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as

Governing Mayor of Berlin The governing mayor () of Berlin is the head of government, presiding over the Berlin Senate. As Berlin is an independent city as well as one of the constituent states of Germany (), the office is the equivalent of the ministers president of ...

since April 2023. He served 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 ...

, the German federal parliament, from 2005 to 2021. In 2019, he became the chairman of the CDU in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Early life and education

Wegner was born 1972 in

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

and became an insurance salesman.

Political career

Member of the German Parliament, 2005–2021

Wegner joined the CDU in 1989 and served as vice chair of the party in Berlin from 2000 to 2002. Wegner was a member of the German

from the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

until 2021, representing Berlin's

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs of Berlin, boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence (geography), confluence of the Havel and Spree (river), Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smalle ...

district. In parliament, he served on the Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy from 2005 until 2013 before moving to the Committee on Building, Housing, Urban Development and Local Government and the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. In this capacity, he was his parliamentary group's spokesperson on building and housing since 2018. From 2011 until 2016, Wegner served as secretary general of the CDU in Berlin, under the leadership of chairman Frank Henkel. In May 2019 he succeeded Monika Grütters as chair of the CDU in Berlin.

Member of the State Parliament of Berlin, 2021–''present''

In October 2020, Wegner announced his candidacy for

in the 2021 Berlin state election; he eventually lost against Franziska Giffey. He has since been serving as his parliamentary group's chairperson and thereby the leader of the opposition. Wegner was appointed as CDU delegate to the Federal Conventions for the purpose of electing the

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 ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Mayor of Berlin, 2023–''present''

Following the large gains made by the CDU in the 2023 Berlin state election, Wegner became Berlin’s first conservative mayor in 22 years and formed the Wegner senate.

Other activities

* Development and Peace Foundation (SEF), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2023) * Foundation for the Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace, Member of the Council (since 2018) *

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (, also known as the Holocaust Memorial German: ''Holocaust-Mahnmal''), is a memorial in Berlin to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust committed by Nazi Germany, designed by architect Peter Eisenman an ...

Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees * Trade Union of the Police (GdP), Member *

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...

, Member

Political positions

In June 2017, Wegner voted against his parliamentary group's majority and in favor of Germany's introduction of same-sex marriage. Ahead of the Christian Democrats' leadership election, Wegner first endorsed in 2020

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 ...

and later Jens Spahn to succeed

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (; Kramp; born 9 August 1962), sometimes referred to by her initials of AKK, is a retired German politician who served as Federal Ministry of Defence (Germany), Minister of Defence from 2019 to 2021 and as Leader of th ...

as the party's chair. For the 2021 national elections, he later endorsed

Markus Söder Markus Thomas Theodor Söder (born 5 January 1967) is a German politician from Bavaria, Germany serving as List of Ministers-President of Bavaria, Minister-President of Bavaria since 2018 and Leader of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, lead ...

as the Christian Democrats' joint candidate to succeed

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 ...

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 ...

. When Merz argued in 2023 that the Christian Democrats may look to work together with the far right

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

at the municipal level, Wegner sought to distance himself from that suggestion, arguing on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that "the CDU cannot, doesn't want to, and will not cooperate with a party whose business model is hate, division and exclusion." In April 2024, he condemned a conference of pro-Palestinian activists in Berlin held during

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

's offensive in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

, saying that "Berlin does not tolerate antisemitism, hatred, and incitement against Jews."

Personal life

Wegner lives in

, Berlin.Christine Richter (18 May 2019)
Kai Wegner – das ist der Mann, der Berlin einen will
'' Berliner Morgenpost''. He is Protestant, divorced, and has two children with his second wife and one with his first wife.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wegner, Kai 1972 births Living people Mayors of Berlin Members of the Bundestag for Berlin Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany People from Spandau