Thomas Nitzsche (born 1 December 1975 in
Zeulenroda) is a German politician (
FDP) and the Mayor of
Jena since 1 July 2018.
Career
Nitzsche attended the Hubert Westhoff Polytechnic High School in Zeulenroda from 1982 to 1991 and the Carl-Zeiss-Gymnasium in Jena from 1991 until achieving his Abitur in 1994. In 1995 he began studies in English and political science at the
Friedrich Schiller University of Jena. He remained in Jena until graduation apart from a year in
Glasgow and a quarter-term in
Salamanca.
While at FSU Jena, Nitzsche was a research assistant to
Klaus Dicke
Klaus is a German, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas.
Notable persons whose family name is Klaus
*Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American basebal ...
, later Rector of the university.
For his graduate thesis in 2007 he wrote about the Spanish liberal politician
Salvador de Madariaga.
From 2008 until he took office as mayor, Nitzsche was a subject specialist (''Fachreferent'') at the
Thuringian University and State Library
Thuringian is an East Central German dialect group spoken in much of the modern German Free State of Thuringia north of the Rennsteig ridge, southwestern Saxony-Anhalt and adjacent territories of Hesse and Bavaria. It is close to Upper Saxon spo ...
(ThULB).
Politics
In 2003, Nitzsche became district chairman for the Young Liberals in Jena and in 2007, he became district chairman for the FDP. Since 2009, he earned a place on the city council of Jena. In the 2012 Thuringian municipal elections, he ran for the position of Mayor of Jena for the first time and received 2.4% of the vote. In the
2013 German federal election
Federal elections were held on 22 September to elect the members of the 18th Bundestag of Germany. At stake were all 598 seats to the Bundestag, plus 33 overhang seats determined thereafter. The Christian Democratic Union of Germany/ Christian ...
, he ran for the FDP in the constituency
Gera - Jena - Saale-Holzland-Kreis
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 cit ...
. Nitzsche is presently the acting chairman of the FDP Thuringia. In the city council of Jena, he was chairman of committees on youth welfare and school development and of the
kindergarten sub-committee. Until his election, he also headed the advisory board for motor vehicle traffic in Jena and was a knowledgeable citizen member of the Urban Development Committee.
In the 2018 Thuringian municipal elections, Nitzsche ran a successful campaign as the FDP candidate for the position of Mayor of Jena. In the first ballot on 15 April 2018, he received at 26.9% the most votes of any of the nine candidates. In particular, he outperformed the incumbent mayor Albrecht Schröter, a result which was considered surprising to most observers.
In the subsequent runoff ballot of 29 April 2018, Nitzsche defeated Schröter with 63.3% of the vote.
Personal
Nitzsche has been married since 1998 and has a daughter and a son.
Publications
* Thomas Nitzsche:
Salvador de Madariaga: Liberaler – Spanier – Weltbürger. Der Weg eines politischen Intellektuellen durch das Europa des 20. Jahrhunderts'. Univ.-Diss., Jena 2007 (in German).
External links
Mayoral website of Thomas NitzscheOfficial profile from the City of Jena
References
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nitzsche, Thomas
1975 births
Free Democratic Party (Germany) politicians
Mayors of Jena
Living people