Klara Geywitz (; born 18 February 1976) is a German politician of the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

(SPD). She served as Federal Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Building in the

Scholz cabinet The Scholz cabinet (, ) was the 24th Government of Germany, Government of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany during the 20th legislative session of the Bundestag. It was sworn in on 8 December 2021 following the 2021 German federal electio ...

from 2021 to 2025. She served as member of the

Landtag of Brandenburg The Landtag of Brandenburg is the unicameral legislature of the states of Germany, state of Brandenburg in Germany. Its 88 members of parliament are usually elected every 5 years. It is responsible for deciding on state laws, controlling the s ...

from 2004 until 2019, and is a Deputy Leader of the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...

since 2019.

Early life and education

Klara Geywitz was born 1976 in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

in the former

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. She studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at the

University of Potsdam The University of Potsdam is a public university in Potsdam, capital of the state of Brandenburg, northeastern Germany. The university is mainly situated across three campuses in the city. Some faculty buildings are part of the New Palace o ...

. In 1992, Geywitz became a member of the

Political career

From 2004 until 2019, Geywitz was a member of the

. Among other committee assignments, she served on the Budget Committee from 2009 until 2014. She was always elected in

First-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...

for her electoral district in Potsdam, until she was defeated in the 2019 state election by Greens candidate Marie Schäffer. From 2008 until 2013, Geywitz served as deputy chairwoman of the SPD in Brandenburg, under the leadership of its chairman

Matthias Platzeck Matthias Platzeck (born 29 December 1953) is a German politician. He was Minister-President, Minister President of Brandenburg from 2002 to 2013 and party chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, SPD from November 2005 to April 2006. ...

.Marion Kaufmann (20 August 2019)
Wer ist Klara Geywitz? Eine Strategin für Olaf Scholz
''

Der Tagesspiegel (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington, D.C., and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, since reunificati ...

''. From 2013 until 2017, she was the party's Secretary General, this time under chairman

Dietmar Woidke Hubert Dietmar Woidke (born 22 October 1961) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. Since August 2013, Woidke has served as Minister President of Brandenburg. Political career Woidke has been a member of the SPD s ...

. In the negotiations to form a fourth cabinet under

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 ...

following the

2017 elections Africa *2017 Somali presidential election 8 February 2017 *2017 Gambian parliamentary election 6 April 2017 *2017 Algerian legislative election 4 May 2017 *2017 Lesotho general election 3 June 2017 *2017 Republic of the Congo parliamentary electi ...

, Geywitz was part of her party's delegation. In the 2019 SPD leadership election, Geywitz announced that she would run as co-chair, together with incumbent Vice Chancellor

Olaf Scholz Olaf Scholz (; born 14 June 1958) is a German politician who served as the Chancellor of Germany from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice-Chancellor of Ge ...

. They were representative of the party establishment. Competing against five other candidate pairs, they narrowly won the first voting round, gaining 22 per cent of the vote. In the final voting round, she and Scholz were defeated winning 45 per cent of the party base, while

Saskia Esken Saskia Christina Esken (' Hofer; born 28 August 1961) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as co-leader of the party since being 2019 Social Democratic Party of Ger ...

and Norbert Walter-Borjans won with 53 per cent of the vote,Tobias Buck (30 November 2019)
Blow to Merkel as leftwingers win SPD leadership
''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

''. drawing support from the youth of the organisation. At a SPD national convention in 2019, Geywitz was later elected as one of the five deputies of the party's co-chairs Esken and Walter-Borjans. in December 2021, she was re-elected at the SPD national convention . Since 2020, Geywitz has been working for the Brandenburg

Court of Audit A Court of Audit or Court of Accounts is a supreme audit institution, i.e. a government institution performing financial and/or legal audit (i.e. statutory audit or external audit) on the executive branch of power. See also *Most of those ...

Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Building, 2021–present

On 6 December 2021, Geywitz was announced as Federal Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Building in the

. In October 2023, Geywitz participated in the first joint cabinet retreat of the German and French governments in Hamburg, chaired by Scholz and

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

Other activities

Corporate boards

* Deutsche Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft (DDVG), Member of the Supervisory Board

Non-profit organizations

* German Poland Institute (DPI), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2022) * Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation, Member of the Board * Leo Baeck Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees

Political positions

In 2020, following

Thomas Oppermann Thomas Ludwig Albert Oppermann (27 April 195425 October 2020) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). From October 2017 until his death he served as Vice President of the Bundestag. In his earlier career, he serv ...

’s death, Geywitz endorsed Dagmar Ziegler as his successor in the office of Vice-President of the German Bundestag.Markus Decker and Andreas Niesmann (14 November 2020)
SPD streitet weiter um Oppermann-Nachfolge – mehrere Ostpolitiker für Ziegler
'' RND''.

Personal life

Geywitz is married and has three children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Geywitz, Klara 1976 births Living people Members of the Landtag of Brandenburg Politicians from Potsdam Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Women government ministers of Germany Women federal government ministers of Germany