Michael Kellner (born 8 May 1977) is a

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 ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

(

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 has been serving as a

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

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 ...

representing

electoral constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provid ...

Uckermark – Barnim I Uckermark – Barnim I is an electoral constituency (German: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 57. It ...

since 2021. In addition to his parliamentary work, Kellner served as

Parliamentary State Secretary A Parliamentary State Secretary (') is a member of the Bundestag given a portfolio to assist a Minister with running a government ministry Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat, office, or directorate) are designations us ...

at the

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (, ; abbreviated BMWE, formerly BMWi) is a Cabinet of Germany, cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was previously known as the "Ministry of Economy". It was recreate ...

in the

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

from 2021 to 2025. In this capacity, he was also the Commissioner for

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by many national agencies and international organiza ...

Early life and education

Kellner grew up in his hometown of

Gera Gera () is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of ...

in East Germany, the son of a school principal and a polyclinic. Both parents lost their jobs after the fall of the GDR. After graduating from school, Kellner lived and worked briefly on an Israeli kibbutz.Marion Kaufmann (6 June 2021)
Grüne Spitzenkandidat:innen in Brandenburg: Die Zwei hinter Baerbock
''

Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten The ''Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten'' (; ), also known as PNN, was a regional, daily newspaper for the area in and around Potsdam, the state capital of Brandenburg in Germany. It was published by , a holding company founded by Dieter von Holtzbri ...

''. He then studied political science at the University of Potsdam from 1996 to 2002, as well as in Canterbury as an Erasmus scholarship holder and at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

, as a

Fulbright scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

. In his thesis, he dealt with the relationship between the states of Berlin and Brandenburg.

Career

Kellner joined

in 1997. From 2004 to 2009, Kellner worked as chief of staff to

Claudia Roth Claudia Benedikta Roth (; born 15 May 1955) is a German politician (Alliance 90/The Greens) and member of the Bundestag. In addition to her work in parliament, Roth served as Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media in the go ...

in her capacity as member of the Green Party's national leadership. He subsequently became a legislative advisor to

Frithjof Schmidt Frithjof Schmidt (born 17 April 1953 in Bad Harzburg) is a German politician of the Alliance 90/The Greens who served as member of the Bundestag from 2009 until 2021 and as Member of the European Parliament from 2004 until 2009. Early life and c ...

. From 2013 to 2022, Kellner was his party's General Secretary. Following his switch into a government position, he was replaced in the role during a party convention in January 2022 by Emily Büning.

Other activities

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres The Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres () is the largest scientific organisation in Germany. It is a union of 18 scientific-technical and biological-medical research centers. The official mission of the Association is "solving the g ...

, Ex-Officio Member of the Senate (since 2022) *

Heinrich Böll Foundation The Heinrich Böll Foundation (German language, German: ''Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Eingetragener Verein, e.V.''; Abbreviation: HBS) is a German legally independent political foundation. Affiliated with Alliance '90/The Greens, Alliance 90/The Gr ...

, Member of the Supervisory Board

Controversy

In early 2022, Kellner became one of the six subjects of an embezzlement investigation launched by the Berlin public prosecutor's office into the entire leadership board of the Green Party over the payment of so-called ‘corona bonuses,’ which had been paid in 2020 to all employees of the party's federal office and at the same time to its board.

Personal life

Kellner is married to Verena Graichen, who has been serving as deputy chair of the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND) since 2019.Bernhard Pötter (19 December 2021)
Wirtschafts- und Klimaministerium: Energiewende als Familienprojekt
''

Die Tageszeitung ''Die Tageszeitung'' (, "The Daily Newspaper"), stylized as ''die tageszeitung'' and commonly referred to as ''taz'', is a German daily newspaper. It is run as a cooperative – it is administered by its employees and a co-operative of sharehol ...

''. They have two children and live in Berlin and

Oberuckersee Oberuckersee is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Uckermark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. Demography References

Localities in Uckermark (district) {{Brandenburg-geo-stub ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kellner, Michael 1977 births Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag for Alliance 90/The Greens Living people Members of the Bundestag for Brandenburg University of Potsdam alumni Members of the Bundestag 2025–2029