Michael Ebling (born 27 January 1967) is a German politician of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD) who served as State Minister of the Interior in the government of Minister-President

Malu Dreyer Marie-Luise "Malu" Dreyer (born 6 February 1961) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as the 8th minister-president of Rhineland-Palatinate from 2013 to 2024. She is the first woman to hold this office. She serv ...

of Rhineland-Palatinate since 2022. From 2012 to 2022, he was the mayor of

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

Early life and education

After passing the

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

at Gonsbach-Gymnasium in 1986, Ebling served for 20 months in the civilian service, or

Zivildienst Zivildienst is the German denomination for the alternative civilian service for conscripted persons who are conscientious objectors to fulfill their national service, typically in the fields of social work (e.g. hospitals, retirement homes, eme ...

, caring for the

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physica ...

. He then studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at the

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...

, and took on a political career as assistant to Klaus Hammer, member of the

Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate The Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate is the state diet of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Article 79, Section 1 of the Rhineland-Palatinate constitution provides: "The Landtag is the supreme organ of political decision-making ...

and chairman of the regional SPD. Later, he worked as an advisor to the ministry of education, science, and culture of the State of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

, joining the office of minister of State Jürgen Zöllner.

Political career

Ebling joined the SPD at the age of 16. He took an active part in the Mainz city council between 1994 and 2002, taking a lead position as his parliamentary group's spokesman for cultural affairs. He also was a member of the executive committee of his party's parliamentary group. Between 1995 and 2007 he was chairman of the SPD at Mombach, succeeding to Ursula Distelhut as a representative of the borough of Mainz-Mombach. Ebling was elected vice president of his party's parliamentary group in 1998, only to be chosen as president in November 2008. He was elected full-time deputy mayor for social affairs, youth, health and housing in 2002, after his predecessor

changed to the third cabinet of Minister-President

Kurt Beck Kurt Beck (born 5 February 1949) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who served as the 7th Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1994 to 2013 and as the 55th President of the Bundesrat in 2000–01. In May 2 ...

. Since 2006, Ebling joined the office of Doris Ahnen as Secretary of State in the ministry of education, science, and culture of Rhineland-Palatinate. In this position he is member of the external advisory board of the Graduate School of Excellence – Materials Science in Mainz.

Mayor of Mainz

In a ballot on 25 March 2012 Michael Ebling was elected mayor of Mainz, gaining 58.2 percent of the votes cast against his competitor Günther Beck (

Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

) who came out second with 41.8 percent. Ebling was successful with an election programme putting social aspects and education policy on top of the agenda. He is the first native from Mainz to be elected mayor of his home town since 1965. On 10 November 2019, Ebling was reelected as mayor of Mainz. He gained 55.2 percent of the votes. In the 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 ...

under the leadership of

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 federal elections, Ebling was part of the working group on municipalities and rural areas, led by

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 ...

Kurt Gribl Kurt Gribl (born 29 August 1964 Augsburg, Germany) is a former List of mayors of Augsburg, Mayor of Augsburg, Bavaria, an office he held from 1 May 2008 to 30 April 2020. He is a member of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria. Early career Gribl ...

and Michael Groschek.

Minister of the Interior of Rhineland-Palatinate

After Roger Lewentz announced his resignation from the office of Interior Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate on 12 October 2022, Ebling was appointed as his successor the following day.

Personal life

Ebling is out as

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

.Mainz hat jetzt einen schwulen OB
Queer.de, March 25, 2012.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ebling, Michael 1967 births Living people State ministers of Rhineland-Palatinate Mayors of Mainz Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians LGBTQ mayors of places in Germany German gay politicians 20th-century German LGBTQ people 21st-century German LGBTQ people Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz alumni