Torsten Albig (born 25 May 1963) is a German politician from the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

. From 2012 until 2017 he served as the 13th Minister President of

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

Early life and education

Albig grew up in

Ostholstein Ostholstein (; ) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the southwest and clockwise) the districts of Stormarn, Segeberg and Plön, the Baltic Sea and the city of Lübeck. Geographically, the district covers the vas ...

and

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...

. After graduating from high school in 1982, he first studied history and social sciences at the

University of Bielefeld Bielefeld University () is a public university in Bielefeld, Germany. Founded in 1969, it is one of the country's newer universities, and considers itself a "reform" university, following a different style of organization and teaching than the e ...

but later changed to law.

Political career

Lord Mayor of Kiel, 2009–2012

From 2009 to 2012 Albig was the Lord Mayor of

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

, the state capital of Schleswig-Holstein.

Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein, 2012–2017

Torsten Albig was appointed candidate for Minister-President, representing his party, the SPD, in 2011 after a member's decision. At the election in 2012, the SPD achieved 30.4% of the votes, not enough to beat the ruling CDU that got 30.8% of the popular vote. Both the SPD and CDU achieved 22 seats each, and the election result made it possible for Albig to form a coalition government with the participation of 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 ...

and the SSW, which is a regional party representing the Danish and Frisian minorities. The three parties had a narrow majority in the

Landtag A ''Landtag'' (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence ...

of Schleswig-Holstein with 35 of 69 seats. At the appointment in parliament though, he got 37 of 69 possible votes. The new-formed government of Schleswig-Holstein consisting of the SPD, The Green Party and the SSW had never been seen before in German history. Albig succeeded

Peter Harry Carstensen Peter Harry Carstensen (born 12 March 1947) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). From 2005 to 2012 he was Minister President of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, serving as President of the Bundesrat in 2005/06. Early ...

in the position as Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein. Albig served as an SPD delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international correspondence; the official English title is President of the F ...

in 2012 and 2017. Together with Doris Ahnen,

Martin Dulig Martin Dulig (born 26 February 1974) is a German politician for the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD). Until 20 December 2019, he was the Saxony, Saxon State Minister of Labor and Traffic and Deputy Minister Presi ...

Heiko Maas Heiko Josef Maas (; born 19 September 1966) is a German lawyerMarcus Jung (15 December 2022)�''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung''. and former politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as the Mini ...

and

Manuela Schwesig Manuela Schwesig (; ' Frenzel, born 23 May 1974) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party serving as List of Ministers-President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Minister President of Mecklenburg-Vorpomm ...

, he co-chaired the SPD’s national convention in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

in 2013. In the negotiations to form a ''

Grand Coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political party, political parties of opposing political spectrum, political ideologies unite in a coalition government. Causes of a grand coali ...

'' of

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 ...

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 ...

's Christian Democrats ( CDU together with the Bavarian

CSU CSU may refer to: Universities and university systems United States * Columbia Southern University, in Orange Beach, Alabama * California State University system * Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, Colorado * Connecticut State Univers ...

) and the SPD following the 2013 federal elections, Albig was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on transport, building and infrastructure, led by

Peter Ramsauer Peter Ramsauer (born 10 February 1954) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) who served as the Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Development in the Second Merkel cabinet. Early life and educatio ...

and Florian Pronold. In 2015, Albig – alongside

First Mayor of Hamburg The following is a chronological list of mayors of Hamburg, a city-state in Germany. The mayors are the head of the city-state, part of the government of Hamburg. Since 1861, according to the Constitution of Hamburg, constitution of 28 Septembe ...

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 ...

– negotiated a restructuring deal with the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

that allowed the German regional lender

HSH Nordbank Hamburg Commercial Bank (formerly HSH Nordbank) is a commercial bank in northern Europe with headquarters in Hamburg as well as Kiel, Germany. It is active in corporate and private banking. Considered to be the world’s largest provider of maritim ...

to offload €6.2 billion in troubled assets – mainly non-performing ship loans – onto its government majority owners and avoid being shut down, saving around 2,500 jobs.

Life after politics

From 2018 to 2021, Albig worked as Vice President Corporate Representation of

Deutsche Post (, ) is a brand of the DHL Group (listed as ), used for its domestic mail services in Germany. The services offered under the brand are those of a traditional mail service, making the brand the successor of the former state-owned mail monopoly ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. Since 2023, he has been responsible for external affairs at

Philip Morris International Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is a multinational tobacco company, with products sold in over 180 countries. Marlboro is PMI’s most recognized brand, but in the last quarter of 2023, Iqos generated the greatest revenue. Philip Mor ...

's German subsidiary.

Other activities

Art Foundation, vice chairman of the board of trustees *

Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival The Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (SHMF) is a classical music festival held each summer throughout the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany. History The festival was founded in 1986 by German concert pianist and conductor Justus Fr ...

, chairman of the board of trustees (-2017) *

University Medical Center Schleswig Holstein The University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein (German: Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein, abbreviated as UKSH) is a university hospital, located in Kiel and Lübeck in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Its aim is to ensure medical ...

, ex-officio chairman of the board of trustees (-2017) * Förde Sparkasse, ex-officio member of the supervisory board (2008–2010)

Personal life

Albig is married and has two children.

References

External links

*
faz.de:Im Porträt Torsten Albig (german)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albig, Torsten 1963 births Living people Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Politicians from Bremen (city) Mayors of places in Schleswig-Holstein Minister-presidents of Schleswig-Holstein Members of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein