Peter Ramsauer (born 10 February 1954) is a German politician of the

Christian Social Union in Bavaria The Christian Social Union in Bavaria ( German: , CSU) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. Having a regionalist identity, the CSU operates only in Bavaria while its larger counterpart, the Christian Democra ...

(CSU) who served as the Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Development in the Second Merkel cabinet.

Early life and education

Ramsauer completed his ''

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 the Staatliches Landschulheim Marquartstein gymnasium in 1973—with a year abroad at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

—and studied

business economics Business economics is a field in applied economics which uses economic theory and quantitative methods to analyze business enterprises and the factors contributing to the diversity of organizational structures and the relationships of firms wit ...

at the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

, where he obtained his

Diplom A ''Diplom'' (, from ) is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

a in 1979 and his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1985. Ramsauer has also qualified as a professional

miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...

in accordance with the traditional occupation of his ancestry. He speaks English and French. He is married and has four daughters. His wife Susanne, a home economics teacher, is a cousin of German-American actress

Sandra Bullock Sandra Annette Bullock (; born July 26, 1964) is an American actress and film producer. The List of highest-paid film actors, highest-paid actress of 2010 and 2014, Sandra Bullock filmography, Bullock's filmography spans both comedy and drama, ...

Political career

Ramsauer joined the conservative Young Union (JU) youth organisation in 1972 and the CSU in 1973. He was elected Bavarian vice-chairman of the JU in 1983 and vice-chairman of the CSU in 2008. In 1978 Ramsauer obtained a seat in the municipal diet (''Stadtrat'') of Traunreut and in 1984 became a member of the

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

assembly of

Traunstein Traunstein (; ) is a Town#Germany, town in the south-eastern part of Bavaria, Germany, and is the administrative center of a much larger Traunstein (district), district of the same name. The town serves as a local government, retail, health se ...

. Ramsauer ran successfully in the 1990 federal election and has been a member 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 ...

for

since then. From 1998 to 2005 he served as CSU

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom I ...

of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. As such, he was also a member of the parliament's Council of Elders, which – among other duties – determines daily legislative agenda items and assigning committee chairpersons based on party representation. Ramsauer was elected to the head of the Bundestag group of CSU parliamentarians in 2005, succeeding Michael Glos; in that capacity, he led the CDU/CSU parliamentary group with his co-chair from the CDU, Volker Kauder. From 2005 until 2009, he also served on the Committee on the Election of Judges (''Wahlausschuss''), which is in charge of appointing judges to the

Federal Constitutional Court of Germany The Federal Constitutional Court ( ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme court, supreme constitutional court for the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, Basic Law ...

.In the 2009 elections Ramsauer was re-elected by 54.6 percent of the votes cast. On 28 October 2009 Ramsauer was appointed Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Development at the behest of Chancellor

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 ...

, succeeding Wolfgang Tiefensee. On the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the diplomatic relations between German and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, he participated in the first joint cabinet meeting of the two countries’ governments in Delhi in May 2011. After leaving government following the 2013 elections, Ramsauer chaired the Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy (2013–2017) and later the Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development (2017–2021). In the negotiations to form another

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 Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, he was part of the working group on economic policy, led by Thomas Strobl, Alexander Dobrindt and Brigitte Zypries. In early 2020, Ramsauer co-founded an informal cross-party group of MPs from the CDU, CSU and FDP parties who opposed a potential coalition government between CDU/CSU and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

. Following the 2021 elections, Ramsauer served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs. In 2023, he became the ''Alterspräsident'' ( Father of the House) of the ''Bundestag'' following the death of Wolfgang Schäuble. In February 2024, Ramsauer announced that he would not stand in the 2025 federal elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.

Political positions

Economic policy

In 2010, in his capacity as transport minister, Ramsauer rejected plans for an initial public offering of rail operator

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

, arguing that the company first needed to focus on improving quality, security, cleanliness, punctuality and reliability of its trains. In 2014, Ramsauer publicly criticized France for announcing plans to buy a 20 percent stake in

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

despite its heavy debts and budget deficit and accused the country's government of showing "ice-cold" national interests in choosing U.S. firm

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

over German

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

for an alliance with Alstom. When

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

came under pressure after the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

requested it pay $14 billion to settle claims of mis-selling

mortgage-backed securities A mortgage-backed security (MBS) is a type of asset-backed security (an "Financial instrument, instrument") which is secured by a mortgage loan, mortgage or collection of mortgages. The mortgages are aggregated and sold to a group of individuals ( ...

in 2016, Ramsauer accused the

Obama Administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...

of measures that "have the characteristics of an economic war." In October 2016, Ramsauer accompanied Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Sigmar Gabriel to

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

to attend the German-Iranian Joint Economic Commission's first meeting in 15 years.

Relations to Russia

In 2007, Ramsauer accompanied Minister President Edmund Stoiber of Bavaria to a meeting with President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

. In July 2010, he accompanied Merkel on an official trip to Moscow for meetings with President

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 and Prime Mini ...

. Amid a 2014 debate over whether Germany needs to rethink its energy strategy and reduce its dependence on Russian gas imports due to the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

, Ramsauer spoke out in favour of considering importing

shale gas Shale gas is an unconventional natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations. Since the 1990s, a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has made large volumes of shale gas more economical to produce, and ...

from the United States, or alternative embracing "domestic resources". In November 2015, in his capacity as chairman of the German Parliament's Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy, he agreed with his Russian counterpart Ivan Grachev to set up an informal German-Russian working group on energy cooperation, convening parliamentarians and business representatives from both countries.

European integration

On 27 January 2015, Ramsauer voted against the Merkel government’s proposal for a four-month extension of Greece's bailout; in doing so, he joined a record number of 29 dissenters from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group who expressed scepticism about whether the Greek government under Prime Minister

Alexis Tsipras Alexis Tsipras (, ; born 28 July 1974) is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2015 to 2019. A left-wing figure, Tsipras was leader of the List of political parties in Greece, Greek political party Syriza from 200 ...

could be trusted to deliver on its reform pledges.

LGBT

In June 2017, Ramsauer voted against 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 ...

Controversy

Recognition of the Polish-German border

During a ballot in Bundestag on 17 October 1991, Ramsauer voted against officially accepting the Oder-Neisse line, which serves as the border between Germany and Poland since the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, as the final Polish-German Frontier.

Alleged racist attack

In 2016, Peter Ramsauer was accused of making a racist attack against a

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...

during a meeting between Prime Minister

and German Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel. During the German Delegation's visit at the Greek Prime Minister's official seat, Ramsauer had an accidental physical contact with the photojournalist. The photographer stated that Ramsauer attacked him saying, "Don't touch me you filthy Greek" first in German language ("Fass mich nicht an, Du dreckiger Grieche") and later in English. Ramsauer denied the insult on several occasions but confirmed having received unpleasant physical contact with a photographer at the event. The incident made the news in Germany and in Greece. Ramsauer had been the most prominent politician in Germany to come out in favour of Greece leaving the euro zone.

Other activities

Peter Ramsauer is a member of a conservative student fraternity based in Munich, Franco-Bavaria, which left its former association Deutsche Burschenschaft in 2013 to distance itself from right-wing extremism. Since June 2014, Ramsauer has been the President of the Ghorfa Arab German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, an association that facilitates the commercial documents of businesses that want to export to Arab countries. Ghorfa has been the subject of controversy for issuing certificates verifying that no parts of an exported product were produced in Israel. He has been described as a "shepherd" of the German language, seeking to avoid English loanwords.

Corporate boards

* La Natura Lifestyle International Holding, Member of the International Advisory Board (since 2024) * Watzl Group GmbH, Member of the Advisory Board (since 2023) * Max Streicher GmbH & Co. KG aA, Chair of the Supervisory Board * Aebi Schmidt Holding (ASH), Member of the board of directors * Gothaer Versicherungsbank, Member of the Advisory Board * CNC Communications & Network Consulting, Member of the Board of Experts * Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Member of the Supervisory Board (2018–2022) * Münchener Hypothekenbank, Member of the Supervisory Board (2014–2019)Members of the Supervisory Board
Münchener Hypothekenbank eG. * KfW, ex-officio Member of the Board of Supervisory Directors (2009–2013) * German Energy Agency (DENA), Member of the Supervisory Board (2009–2012) * Odewald & Companie, Member of the Advisory Board (2005–2009) * SKW Stahl-Metallurgie Holding, Member of the Advisory Board (2002–2006)

Non-profit organisations

* Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Ghorfa), President (since 2014) * Hanns Seidel Foundation, Member *

Quadriga A quadriga is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast and favoured for chariot racing in classical antiquity and the Roman Empire. The word derives from the Latin , a contraction of , from ': four, and ': yoke. In Latin the word is almos ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees (−2011) * Ifo Institute for Economic Research, Member of the Board of Trustees (2002–2010) * German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Member of the Presidium (2005–2009) * German-Korean Society, Vice-President (1998–2002)

References

External links