Lorenz Caffier (24 December 1954 in Weixdorf,

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

) is a German politician who served as chairman of the Christian Democratic Union in the

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 ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in population; it covers an are ...

Political career

Caffier served as State Minister of the Interior (2006–2020) and as Deputy Minister-President of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (2011–2020) in the governments of Minister-Presidents Harald Ringstorff (2006–2008),

Erwin Sellering Erwin Sellering (born 18 October 1949) is a German politician. He served as the 4th Minister President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern from 2008 to 2017. Early life and career Sellering studied law and has lived in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern since 1994, ...

(2008–2017) and

Manuela Schwesig Manuela Schwesig (; ' Frenzel, born 23 May 1974) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party serving as List of Ministers-President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Minister President of Mecklenburg-Vorpomm ...

(2017–2020). As one of the state’s representatives at the Bundesrat, he chaired its Defence Committee from 2006. In addition, he led the Bundesrat delegation to the

NATO Parliamentary Assembly The NATO Parliamentary Assembly serves as the consultative interparliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It consists of delegates from the parliaments of the 32 NATO member countries as well as from associate ...

from 2010 to 2020. He was also a member of the German-Russian Friendship Group set up by the Bundesrat and the

Russian Federation Council The Federation Council, unofficially Senate, is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, with the lower house being the State Duma. It was established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993. Each of the 89 federal s ...

. Together with

Stefan Mappus Stefan Mappus (born 4 April 1966) is a German politician from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was the 8th Minister President of the state of Baden-Württemberg from 2010 to 2011 and chairman of the CDU Baden-Württemberg from 2009 ...

Reiner Haseloff Reiner Erich Haseloff (born 19 February 1954) is a German politician who serves as the Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt. On 9 October 2020, he was elected President of the Bundesrat. His one-year term started on 1 November 2020. Political ...

Frank Henkel Frank Henkel (born 16 November 1963) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a Mayor and Senate of Berlin, Senator of the Interior and Sports of the German state of Berl ...

Peter Hintze Peter Hintze (25 April 1950 – 26 November 2016) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a member of the German Bundestag from 1990 until his death in 2016. From 2013 until 2016, Hintze was one of the six ...

Julia Klöckner Julia Klöckner (born 16 December 1972) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (Germany), Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as President of the Bundestag, President of the German Bundestag since 25 March 2025 ...

Christine Lieberknecht Christine Lieberknecht (born Determann 7 May 1958 in Weimar) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). From 2009 to 2014, she served as the Minister President of Thuringia. Lieberknecht was the first woman to become head ...

and

Thomas Röwekamp Thomas Röwekamp (born 18 September 1966 in Bremerhaven) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since 2021. From 1991 to 2021, Röwekamp was a member of the S ...

, Caffier co-chaired the CDU’s national convention 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 ...

in 2010. In the negotiations to form a ''

Grand Coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political party, political parties of opposing political spectrum, political ideologies unite in a coalition government. Causes of a grand coali ...

'' of the Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian

CSU CSU may refer to: Universities and university systems United States * Columbia Southern University, in Orange Beach, Alabama * California State University system * Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, Colorado * Connecticut State Univers ...

) and the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

(SPD) following the 2013 federal elections, Caffier was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on internal and legal affairs, led by

Hans-Peter Friedrich Hans-Peter Friedrich (born 10 March 1957) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union (CSU) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag from 1998 to 2025 . Under the leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel, he served as ...

and

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 ...

. In similar negotiations to form a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

following the 2017 federal elections, he was again part of the working group on internal and legal affairs, this time led by

Thomas de Maizière Karl Ernst Thomas de Maizière (; born 21 January 1954) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 2009 to 2011 and 2013 to 2018, as well as Federal Minister of Defence f ...

, Stephan Mayer and

Heiko Maas Heiko Josef Maas (; born 19 September 1966) is a German lawyerMarcus Jung (15 December 2022)�''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung''. and former politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as the Mini ...

. Caffier was a CDU delegate to the

Federal Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. While the convention was initially intended to revise the league of states and devise the first system of federal government under the Articles of Conf ...

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 ...

in 2017. In September 2020, Caffier announced that he would not stand in the

2021 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election The 2021 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election was held on 26 September 2021 to elect the 8th Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The incumbent government is a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) led ...

but instead resign from active politics by the end of the legislative term. On 17 November 2020 he resigned from his office as Minister of the Interior.

Other activities

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for List of women's national association football teams, women's national association football, football teams. It was held from 26 June to ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees * German Forum for Crime Prevention (DFK), Member of the Board of Trustees * Achterkerke Stiftung für Kinder, Member of the Board of Trustees

Political positions

In 2012, Caffier caused controversy when he proposed that football fans might have to pass through "face scanners" at stadiums, comparing visitors'

biometric data Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics and features. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used t ...

to a database of known football rioters. In 2014, Caffier joined other German interior ministers in launching a suit to ban the

National Democratic Party of Germany National Democratic Party of Germany (, NPD), officially called The Homeland () since 2023, is a Far-right politics, far-right, Neo-Nazism, neo-Nazi and Ultranationalism, ultranationalist political party in Germany. It was founded in 1964 as ...

(NPD). In an effort to respond to growing security fears among the public during the

European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and Human migration, migrants into Europe, mostly from the Middle East. An estimated 1.3 million people came to the continent to request Right of asyl ...

in 2016, Caffier called for a partial ban on the

burqa A burqa or burka (; ) is an enveloping outer garment worn by some Muslim women which fully covers the body and the face. Also known as a chadaree (; ) or chaadar (Dari: چادر) in Afghanistan, or a ''paranja'' (; ; ) in Central Asia, the Ara ...

and

niqab A niqāb, niqab, or niqaab (; ), also known as a ruband () or rubandah (), is a long garment worn by some Muslim women in order to cover their entire body and face, excluding their eyes. It is an interpretation in Islam of the concept of ...

garments, arguing that the full body veil is a barrier to integration, encourages parallel societies and suggests women are inferior.Caroline Copley and Michelle Martin (August 19, 2016)
German conservatives call for partial ban on face veil
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

''.

Personal life

Caffier was born on 24 December 1954 in Weixdorf (now a part of

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

and is the third son of a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

and his wife. Caffier lives in

Neustrelitz Neustrelitz (; ) is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the shore of the Zierker See in the Mecklenburg Lake District. From 1738 until 1918 it was the capital o ...

with his wife.

Sources

External links

Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caffier, Lorenz 1954 births Living people Politicians from Dresden German Lutherans Christian Democratic Union (East Germany) politicians Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians Members of the 10th Volkskammer Members of the Landtag of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania German people of Jewish descent