Thomas Oppermann

Thomas Oppermann
Chairman of the SPD-Parliamentary Group
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 December 2013
Preceded by	Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Personal details
Born	(1954-27-04) 4 March 1954 Freckenhorst, West Germany (now Germany)
Political party	Social Democratic Party
Alma mater	University of Tübingen University of Göttingen

Thomas Oppermann (born 27 April 1954 in Freckenhorst) is a German politician with the Social Democratic Party (SPD). From 1998-2003, he was the Minister for Science and Culture in the German state of Lower Saxony. He has been the First Secretary of the SPD Parliamentary Group in the Bundestag from November 2007 to December 2013. Currently, he serves as Chairman of the SPD Parliamentary Group.

Life and career

Oppermann received his abitur diploma from the Goetheschule in Einbeck. Afterwards, he studied Germanics and English studies at Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen. From 1976 to 1978, he worked at Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP) in the United States. After his return to Germany, he went to law school at Georg August University in Göttingen, finishing in 1986. From then until 1990, he was an administrative court judge in Hannover and later in Braunschweig. From 1988 to 1989, he was the judge at the administrative court in the city of Hann. Münden. Oppermann has three daughters and one son.^[1]

Party Membership

Oppermann has been a member of the (SPD) since 1980 and president of the regional SPD in Göttingen since 1989.^[1]

Political career

Oppermann was a member of the Lower Saxon Landtag from 1990-2005.^[2] He was speaker for political law there from 1990-1998. From 2003 to 2005, he was the economic speaker of the state SPD faction. From 2001-2005, he was also a member of the county council in Göttingen. Since 2005, he has been a member of the Bundestag (German parliament). From March 2006 to November 2007, he was speaker of the working group and leader of the SPD delegation on the committee to investigate the secret service (Geheimdienst-Untersuchungsausschuss). Thomas Oppermann was elected as the First Parliamentary Secretary of the SPD Parliamentary Group in November 2007. He was subsequently re-elected in 2011 and 2013. Following the German federal election on 22 September 2013, Frank-Walter Steinmeier resigned as Chairman of the SPD Parliamentary Group to serve once again as foreign minister in Angela Merkel's second grand coalition. On 16 December 2013, Oppermann was elected as the new Chairman of the SPD Parliamentary Group. Oppermann also serves on the board of trustees of the Hertie School of Governance.^[1]

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Oppermann biography Official website of the German Bundestag. Retrieved 12 March 2010 (German)
2. ↑ Thomas Oppermann listing Watch group website. Retrieved 12 March 2010 (German)

External links

• Thomas Opperman official website Retrieved 12 March 2010 (German)