Dorothee_Bär

Dorothee Bär

Dorothee Bär

German politician

Dorothee Gisela Renate Maria Bär (née Mantel; born 19 April 1978[1]) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag since 2002. From 2014 to 2021, she served in various capacities in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Quick Facts Minister of State for Digitization, Chancellor ...

Early life and education

Dorothee Bär, grew up in Ebelsbach, Landkreis Haßberge where she still lives.[1] She finished high school in Grayslake, Illinois in 1996 and Franz-Ludwig-Gymnasium in Bamberg in 1999.[1]

Supported by a scholarship of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, Bär studied political science in several universities throughout Germany and received her diploma in 2005 from Otto-Suhr-Institut of the Free University of Berlin.[1] After her graduation, she worked as a journalist for several radio stations and newspapers.[1]

Political career

Bär started her political career in 1996 by joining the Young Union (JU), the youth organization of the CSU. In 1994 she became a member of the CSU. In 1999, she became a member of the Board of Directors of the Junge Union for the region of Lower Franconia. From 2001 to 2003, she served as the Chairperson of the Association of Christian Democratic Students (RCDS) of Bavaria.

Member of Parliament, 2002–present

Since the 2002 national elections, Bär has been a member of the German Parliament representing the Bad Kissingen electoral district (#248) which comprises three counties: Bad Kissingen, Rhön-Grabfeld, and Haßberge.[2] Between 2005 and 2009, Bär was a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Within her parliamentary group, she served as deputy spokesperson for foreign policy between 2008 and 2009, succeeding Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg.[3]

In November 2008 Bär was elected as the Deputy National Chairperson of the Young Union, under the leadership of chairman Philipp Mißfelder. In February 2009, she became the Deputy Secretary General of the CSU, serving alongside Secretary General Alexander Dobrindt under party chairman Horst Seehofer.

In the negotiations to form a coalition government following the 2009 federal elections, Bär was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on families, integration of immigrants and culture, led by Maria Böhmer and Hans-Joachim Otto. Between 2009 and 2013, she then served on the Committee on Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth as well as on the Committee on Cultural and Media Affairs.

In addition to her committee assignments, Bär was a member of the German-Korean Parliamentary Friendship Group and of the German-Swiss Parliamentary Friendship Group.[4]

Since 2021, Bär has been serving as one her parliamentary group's deputy chairs, under the leadership of successive chairs Ralph Brinkhaus (2021–2022) and Friedrich Merz (2022–present). In this capacity, she oversees the group’s legislative activities on families and cultural affairs.[5]

State Secretary for Transport and Digital Infrastructure, 2014–2018

In the coalition talks following the 2013 federal elections, Bär led the working group on digital policy; her co-chair was Brigitte Zypries of the SPD. In the third government under Chancellor Angela Merkel, she served as Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure under the leadership of Minister Alexander Dobrindt. In this capacity, she was also the government’s Coordinator for Freight Transport and Logistics.[6]

State Minister for Digitization, 2018–2021

In the negotiations to form a fourth cabinet under Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, Bär again led the working group on digital policy, this time alongside Helge Braun and Lars Klingbeil. Following the formation of the new government, she was appointed to the newly established post of State Minister for Digitization at the Federal Chancellery.[7] Together with investor Frank Thelen she also been co-chaired the German Innovation Council at the Federal Chancellery.[8]

Ahead of the 2021 elections, CDU chairman Armin Laschet included Bär in his eight-member shadow cabinet for the Christian Democrats’ campaign; she was the only CSU politician selected for this role.[9]

Other activities

Government agencies

Corporate boards

  • FC Bayern München, Member of the Advisory Board (since 2019)[10]
  • ÖPP Deutschland AG, Ex-officio Member of the Supervisory Board (2013-2017)
  • CNC Communications & Network Consulting, Member of the Board of Experts (2009–2013)
  • Quadriga University of Applied Sciences Berlin, (2009–2013)
  • Rhön-Klinikum, Member of the Advisory Board (2009–2013)
  • RTL Television, Member of the Program Committee (2009–2013)

Non-profits

Political positions

Ahead of the 2021 national elections, Bär endorsed Markus Söder as the Christian Democrats' joint candidate to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel.[12]

Personal life

Bär with her husband in 2012

Bär is married to lawyer and fellow CSU politician Oliver Bär. The couple has two daughters and a son.[2]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Personal background information from her official website
  2. [2]
    Bundestag Archived 30 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  3. [3]
    Georg Paul Hefty (11 November 2008), Dorothee Bär: Die nächste Generation der CSU Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
  4. [4]
    German-Swiss Parliamentary Friendship Group Federal Assembly.
  5. [5]
    Neuaufstellung der Union: Spahn ist jetzt Stellvertreter des Fraktionsvorsitzenden Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 13 December 2021.
  6. [6]
    Dorothee Bär ist neue Koordinatorin für Güterverkehr und Logistik Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, press release of 29 January 2014.
  7. [7]
    Dana Heide and Dietmar Neuerer (5 March 2018), Dorothee Bär ist für Seehofer die beste Lösung fürs Digitale Handelsblatt.
  8. [8]
    "Innovation Council konstituiert sich im Bundeskanzleramt". Startseite (in German). 17 May 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  9. [9]
    Fatina Keilani and Christoph Prantner (September 3, 2021), Personen statt Positionen: Laschet bringt sein «Zukunftsteam» in Stellung Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
  10. [10]
    Margot Lamparter (8 March 2019), Dorothee Bär neues Mitglied im Verwaltungsbeirat des FC Bayern Bayerischer Rundfunk.
  11. [11]
    Board of Trustees (2019-2022) Archived 3 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine International Journalists’ Programmes (IJP).
  12. [12]
    Second CDU premier drops support for Laschet's German chancellery run Reuters, April 16, 2021.
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