Mark Lars Carsten Hauptmann (born 29 April 1984) was a German politician of the
Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) who served as a member of the
German Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the lower house of the German federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag was established by Title III of the Basic Law for ...
from 2013 until 2021.
Early life and education
After receiving his Senior Highschool Degree in 2003 in the city of
Suhl
Suhl () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located SW of Erfurt, NE of Würzburg and N of Nuremberg. With its 37,000 inhabitants, it is the smallest of the six urban districts within Thuringia. Together with its northern neighbour-town Zella ...
, Hauptmann studied political science, business communication, economic and social history at
Friedrich Schiller University in Jena (FSU),
Kansai Gaidai University
, almost always abbreviated ''Kansai Gaidai'' (関西外大), is located in Hirakata, Osaka, Japan. It is a private university focusing on foreign language studies. Kansai is the proper name of the large region where it is located, which includ ...
in Osaka, Japan, and
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
in New Haven, USA. During his studies he was granted scholarships by the
Konrad Adenauer Foundation
The Konrad Adenauer Foundation ('' German: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: KAS'') is a German political party foundation associated with but independent of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The foundation's head ...
and the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO).
Following his graduation in 2009, Hauptmann started working as head of office and parliamentary assistant to Christian Hirte, MP (CDU) at the German Bundestag in Berlin. Additionally, he became a visiting lecturer to the
University of Erfurt
The University of Erfurt () is a public university located in Erfurt, the capital city of the German state of Thuringia. It was founded in 1379, and closed in 1816. It was re-established in 1994, three years after German reunification. Therefore ...
(2010) and also to the Friedrich-Schiller University in Jena (2011), where he was teaching political science.
Hauptmann worked at the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
in Brussels, Belgium, for the
Konrad Adenauer Foundation
The Konrad Adenauer Foundation ('' German: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: KAS'') is a German political party foundation associated with but independent of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The foundation's head ...
's office in Beijing, China, as well as the Thuringia's State Ministry of Transportation, Construction and Economic Development. With ''Kairos Communication'' he also started his own business.
Hauptmann is a member of the
Evangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany (, EKD), also known as the Protestant Church in Germany, is a federation of twenty Lutheranism, Lutheran, Continental Reformed Protestantism, Reformed, and united and uniting churches, United Protestantism in Ger ...
.
Political career
In 1999 Hauptmann joined the youth organization of the Christian Democratic Union, the
Young Union
The Junge Union Deutschlands (English: Young Union of Germany) or JU is the joint
youth organisation of the CDU/CSU coalition in Germany. Membership is limited to individuals between 14 and 35 years of age.
The Junge Union claims to be the large ...
(JU). There, he chaired the JU Suhl and served as deputy chair of JU's regional group for the Rhön-Rennsteig area, among others. In 2005, he was elected a board member of Junge Union in the State of Thuringia. He was chairman of the permanent workshop on European and International Affairs. On federal level, he represented JU Thuringia until 2012. Since then, he became a member of the federal board of the Young Union and was appointed chairman of JU's International Commission on Foreign, European and Security Affairs until 2014.
Joining the CDU in 2003, Hauptmann soon got elected to the board of the CDU in Suhl and joined the CDU Thuringia' state committee on European Affairs.
In the
2009 European elections
9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding .
Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit
Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...
, Hauptmann ran for a seat as participant of the CDU's state list for Thuringia.
Member of the Bundestag, 2013–2021
Hauptmann was unanimously elected CDU direct candidate for the constituency 197 (Suhl - Schmalkalden-Meiningen - Hildburghausen) for the
2013 German elections. With 42% of the votes, he won his constituency and became a directly elected Member of the German Bundestag.
Hauptmann was a member of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy as well as member of its Subcommittee on Regional Economic Policy and ERP Economic Plans. In this capacity, he served as his parliamentary group’s
rapporteur
A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word.
For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...
on the annual budget of the
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (, ; abbreviated BMWE, formerly BMWi) is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was previously known as the "Ministry of Economy". It was recreated in 2005 as "Mini ...
, the economic reconstruction of eastern Germany and social policy. He was furthermore a deputy member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the German 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 ...
as well as member of the Subcommittee on Civil Crisis Prevention, Conflict Management, and Coordinated Response.
In addition to his committee assignments, Hauptmann chaired the German-Belarusian Parliamentary Friendship Group from 2018 until 2021.
"Azerbaijan affair" allegations and resignation
In March 2021 several Bundestag members of the ruling
CDU/CSU coalition became subjects of criminal investigations on the initial suspicion of corruption, for receiving payments from the
Azerbaijani Laundromat money laundering scheme, while others were implicated in allegations of corrupt lobbying practices known as “
Caviar diplomacy
Caviar diplomacy is a lobbying strategy of Azerbaijan, consisting of costly invitations to foreign politicians and employees of international organizations to Azerbaijan at the expense of the host country. Caviar diplomacy also includes expensive ...
” in the European Council or what became known as the “Azerbaijan affair” () scandal in Germany.
In March 2021, magazine ''
Der Spiegel
(, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'' reported that the Azerbaijani embassy in Berlin paid €16,744 to advertise a shopping weekend in Baku in a local newspaper that Hauptmann publishes in the state of Thuringia. According to the report, the payment was made after Hauptmann had worked for years to establish cordial ties with
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
, consistently siding with the country despite its controversial
human rights record. Shortly after the ''Der Spiegel'' story, Hauptmann resigned from his parliamentary seat. He claimed that he did nothing wrong but decided to step down to protect his fiancée and children from public harassment.
Political positions
In June 2017, Hauptmann voted against his parliamentary group’s majority and in favor of Germany’s introduction of
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
.
In 2019, Hauptmann joined fellow CDU lawmakers – including
Roderich Kiesewetter
Roderich Kiesewetter (born 11 September 1963) is a former Bundeswehr general staff officer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag since 2009.
Early life and career
After p ...
and
Norbert Röttgen
Norbert Alois Röttgen (born 2 July 1965) is a German lawyer and politician who served as Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2009 to 2012. A member of t ...
– in co-signing an op-ed in ''
Handelsblatt
The ''Handelsblatt'' (literally "commerce paper" in English) is a German-language business newspaper published in Düsseldorf by Handelsblatt Media Group, formerly known as Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt.
History and profile
''Handelsblatt'' was es ...
'', calling on
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 ...
to keep Chinese telecom company
Huawei
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei" sometimes stylized as "HUAWEI"; ; zh, c=华为, p= ) is a Chinese multinational corporationtechnology company in Longgang, Shenzhen, Longgang, Shenzhen, Guangdong. Its main product lines include teleco ...
out of Germany's
5G network, citing national security reasons.
Honors and awards
Hauptmann is a member of the Jena Debate Society. In 2006, he won the German national debate tournament and became vice champion in 2007.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hauptmann, Mark
1984 births
Living people
Members of the Bundestag for Thuringia
Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021
Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017
Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany