Priska Hinz is a German politician of the

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 ...

. After a career as an

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

, she worked in both regional (state) and national politics. She was 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 ...

from 2005 to 2014, by winning a seat in the 16th, 17th and 18th Federal election. Hinze then worked as the Environment Minister of

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

for a decade.

Life

Hinz was born on 10 March 1959 in Diez,

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 ...

. After graduating from secondary school ( ''Realschule'') in 1974 in Herborn, she went to a college for social pedagogy in

Limburg an der Lahn Limburg an der Lahn (, ; officially abbreviated ''Limburg a. d. Lahn'') is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Limburg lies in western Hesse between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn. The t ...

, from where she graduated as an

in 1977. She then worked for the ''Evangelische Gemeinschaft'' (''Evangelical Community Association'') in Herborn from 1977 to 1979 and then worked in children day care centers. From 1979 to 1982, Hinz worked as an educator and later as manager for the ''Kindertagesstätte Heilig Geist'' (''Holy Spirit Day Care Centre'') in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. For a brief year, she also educated at another center in

Friedrichsdorf Friedrichsdorf () is a town of the Hochtaunuskreis, some north of Frankfurt am Main in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Friedrichsdorf is located in the Taunus area, ranking third among the Hochtaunuskreis boroughs after Bad Homburg vor der ...

in 1982. She joined the Green Party in 1980 and was a member of the party's executive board in

from 1993 to 1995. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Hinz had seats in the city Parliaments of

and Maintal, as well as the regional district government of the Lahn-Dill district. In Maintal, she was the city treasurer from 1989 to 1994 and head of social affairs. For multiple times (from 1985 to 1989, 1995 to 1998, April 1999 to 2005 and since 2014), she was a member of the Hessian state parliament. During that time she was deputy parliamentary group leader from 1985 to 1987, 1995 to 1998 and 2003 to 2005 and first parliamentary group leader from 1999 to 2000. From 1994 to 1995, she was member of the Bundesrat, a representative of the state of Hesse to the federal government. She was a member of the

from 2005 to 2014, by winning a seat in the 16th, 17th and 18th Federal elections. Her seat in the Bundestag was replaced by Wolfgang Strengmann-Kuhn in 2014, as she didn't complete her third "term" because - after the

2013 Hessian State Election The 2013 Hessian state election was held on 22 September 2013 to elect the members of the Landtag of Hesse. The election was held on the same day as the 2013 German federal election, 2013 federal election. The incumbent coalition government of th ...

- the Second Bouffier Cabinet was formed, in which

Volker Bouffier Volker Bouffier (born 18 December 1951) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Minister President of the German state of Hessen from 31 August 2010 to 31 May 2022. From 1 November 2014 until 31 October 201 ...

appointed her the Environment Minister of Hesse. She stayed in this position until 2024, as part of the Third Bouffier Cabinet, and the First Rhein Cabinet. As announced in 2022, she did not seek re-election, stating that "after four decades in politics, hewants to look after ergrandchildren, family and erelf in future."

Personal life

Hinz is married and has two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinz, Priska 1959 births People from Rhein-Lahn-Kreis Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag for Hesse Ministers of the Hesse State Government Female members of the Bundestag Members of the Bundestag for Alliance 90/The Greens Living people