Rudolf Paul Maria Henke (born 5 June 1954) is a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a member of the German

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the German Federalism, federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representat ...

from 2009 until 2021.

Education and early career

Born in

Düren Düren (; ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne on the river Rur. History Roman era The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the territory of the Eburones, a pe ...

, Henke 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 yea ...

at the ''Stiftisches Gymnasium'' in Düren before studying medicine at

RWTH Aachen University RWTH Aachen University (), also known as North Rhine-Westphalia Technical University of Aachen, Rhine-Westphalia Technical University of Aachen, Technical University of Aachen, University of Aachen, or ''Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hoch ...

between 1972 and 1979. The following year, he became assistant physician at St Antonius Hospital in

Eschweiler Eschweiler (, Ripuarian: ) is a municipality in the district of Aachen in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany on the river Inde, near the German-Belgian-Dutch border, and about east of Aachen and west of Cologne. History * Celts (f ...

, rising to become a consultant in hematology and oncology in September 1988. Henke has been on the board of directors of the physicians' trade union ''Marburger Bund'' since 1989, becoming chair in 2007. He is a German delegate to the

World Medical Association The World Medical Association (WMA) is an international and independent confederation of free professional medical associations representing physicians worldwide. WMA was formally established on September 18, 1947 and has grown to 115 national m ...

Political career

Henke joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in 1992 and became a member of the

Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia The Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia is the state parliament (''Landtag'') of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which convenes in the state capital of Düsseldorf, in the eastern part of the district of Hafen. The parliament i ...

in the 1995 state elections. He remained a member of the parliament until 2009, having been twice re-elected, holding positions on the Committee on Labour, Health and Social Affair and the Committee on Research and Technology. Between 2005 and 2009, he was deputy leader of the CDU parliamentary group. Henke was directly elected to the

in the

Aachen I Aachen 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 87. It is located i ...

constituency in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, receiving more votes than incumbent federal health minister Ulla Schmidt in the process. Throughout his time in parliament, he was a member of the Health Committee, serving as deputy chairman of the committee from 2014. Henke was re-elected in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

. In the negotiations to form a coalition government under the leadership of

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Op ...

following the 2017 federal elections, he was part of the working group on health policy, led by

Hermann Gröhe Gottfried Hermann Gröhe (born 25 February 1961) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Minister of Health in the third cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2013 until 2018. Early life and ...

, Georg Nüßlein and

Malu Dreyer Marie-Luise "Malu" Dreyer (born 6 February 1961) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has served as the 8th and current Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate since 13 January 2013. She is the first woman to hold th ...

Other activities

In addition to his political work, Henke holds various positions that have contributed to making him one of the highest-earning members of the Bundestag, including the following: * Allianz Private Krankenversicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft (APKV), Deputy Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board * Deutsche Apotheker- und Ärztebank, Member of the Advisory Board * Deutsche Ärzteversicherung, Member of the Advisory Board * Federal Association for Children with Heart Diseases (BVHK), Member of the Scientific Advisory Board * German-Israeli Association (DIG), Member * UNITE – Parliamentary Network to End HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis and Other Infectious Diseases, Member (since 2017)

Political positions

In June 2017, Henke 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 sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. Ahead of the 2021 Christian Democratic Union of Germany leadership election, Henke publicly endorsed

Armin Laschet Armin Laschet (; born 18 February 1961) is a German politician who served as Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 27 June 2017 to 26 October 2021. He served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 22 January 2021 to ...

to succeed

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (; Kramp; born 9 August 1962), sometimes referred to by her initials of AKK, is a retired German politician who served as Minister of Defence from 2019 to 2021 and as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) fro ...

as the party’s chair.
''

Aachener Zeitung ''Aachener Zeitung'' ( Aachen Newspaper, AZ) is a daily newspaper published in Aachen, Germany. It is printed, alongside the daily ''Aachener Nachrichten'' (AN), by Mediahuis in the Rhenish format. History The AZ was founded in 1946 as ''Aach ...

'', 14 January 2021.

Personal life

Henke is married with four children, and lives in

Burtscheid Burtscheid ( la, Porcetum) is a district of the city of Aachen, part of the Aachen-Mitte Stadtbezirk. It is a health resort. History It was inhabited since ancient times by Celts and ancient Rome, Romans, who were attracted by the presence of ho ...

, Aachen. He was deputy chair of the CDU in the city between 1999 and 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henke, Rudolf Living people 1954 births German hematologists Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany