Klaus Wowereit

Infobox Politician
name = Klaus Wowereit


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office = Mayor of Berlin
term_start = 2001
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predecessor = Eberhard Diepgen
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birth_date = Birth date and age|1953|10|1|mf=y
birth_place = West Berlin, West Germany flagicon|West Germany
nationality = German flagicon|Germany
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death_place =
party = Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)
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alma_mater = Free University of Berlin
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Klaus Wowereit (born October 1, 1953 in West Berlin) is a German politician, member of the SPD (Social Democratic Party), and has been the mayor of Berlin since the 2001 state elections, winning 29.7% of the votes. He served as President of the Bundesrat in 2001/02. His SPD-led coalition was re-elected in the 2006 elections. He is also sometimes mentioned as a possible SPD candidate for the Chancellorship of Germany ("Kanzlerkandidat"), though his chances have diminished after his decision to enter into a coalition with the socialist Left Party for a second term. Wowereit has publicly ruled out such a move, supporting Kurt Beck for the role of "Kanzlerkandidat".

Background

Until 1973, Klaus Wowereit attended the Ulrich-von-Hutten-Oberschule in Berlin. Afterwards, he studied law at the Free University Berlin (State Exams, 1981 and 1984).

Political career

After 3 years as a civil servant in the Senate office of the Interior Wowereit stood for election as municipal councillor in Tempelhof borough. At the age of 30, he was therefore the youngest councilor in the city of Berlin. After eleven years as a Borough Councillor he stood for the Berlin House of Deputies (Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin) which serves as the City's Landtag or state legislature in 1995. In December 1999, he was elected chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Abgeordnetenhaus. Since June 2001 he has served as Governing Mayor, "Regierender Bürgermeister", of Berlin. Previously, the SPD had left the Grand coalition with the CDU and initiated new elections. After this election and following long-time negotiations, Wowereit finally started a coalition with the PDS.

In the elections held on 17 September 2006, Wowereit's (SPD) finished as the strongest party. The 16th Abgeordnetenhaus re-elected Wowereit as Governing Mayor on 23 November 2006, in the second ballot with only a 75-74 majority. CDU, Free Democrats and the Green Party voted against him.

Personal life

Wowereit is one of the most famous German politicians who is openly gay. In coming out, prior to the 2001 mayoral elections, he coined the now famous German phrase "Ich bin schwul, und das ist auch gut so." ("I am gay, and that’s just fine" or "I am gay, and it's ok that way"). In his autobiography (see below) Wowereit states that his decision to come out in public was made because after his nomination as candidate to become the mayor of Berlin, he felt that the German tabloids were already "on the track". With his coming out, Wowereit wanted to beat the tabloids to it and prevent them from writing wild, sensational and made-up stories about his private life. Wowereit said those now famous words during a convention of the Berlin SPD. After he had ended, there was half a second of surprised silence, then spontaneous cheering and loud applause to support him.

His election as mayor made Berlin the world's largest city with an openly LGBT mayor, followed by Paris, France, whose mayor is Bertrand Delanoë . The third largest is Hamburg, Germany, whose mayor is Ole von Beust. All three have taken office since 2001; previously, the largest city with an LGBT mayor had been Winnipeg, Canada, with mayor Glen Murray.

In September 2007, Wowereit published an autobiographical book titled "...und das ist auch gut so.", after his famous coming-out phrase (ISBN 3896673343).

External links

* [http://www.klaus-wowereit.de/international Konsequent Berlin (Personal website for British and French readers)]
* [http://www.citymayors.com/mayors/berlin_mayor.html CityMayors.com profile]

Persondata
NAME = Wowereit, Klaus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = German politician
DATE OF BIRTH = October 1, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH = Berlin, Germany
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =