Englische Version

on following pages you find any information about me and my work as Member of the German Bundestag in Berlin and in my constituency Segeberg- Stormarn-Nord.

I was born at 16^th September 1954 in Essen. After passing the O-Levels I completed a professional education as industrial sales management assistant and have been working as salesman in a company of the Chemical Industry for several years.

After finishing my studies at the Dortmund Academy of Social StudiesI changed the position and started working as Secretary of the Chemical, Paper and Ceramic IndustrialUnion (now Mining, Chemical and Energy Industrial Union), because I ever have been fascinated of the duties as employees’ stakeholder since I have started my union engagement as youth representative and works council member at my former company. Before I was elected to the German Bundestag first time in 1994, I was member of the Supervisory Board of Wirtschafts- und Aufbaugesellschaft Stormarn mbH and Member of the Supervisory Board of AlliedSignal-Deutschland. Also I have been managing director of the Industrial Union Chemie-Papier-Keramik in Hamburg for six years. As an honorary activity I was district chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in Stormarn. For 8 years I have been member of the county council of the Stormarn district and deputy county councillor. From 1999 to 2003 I was chairman of the SPD in Schleswig-Holstein, member of the Programme Commission of the SPD-Executive Committee. My wife Rita and me we live in Ammersbek. Our both sons Philipp and Stephan are studying in Kiel and Lübeck. My hobbies are reading Nordic crime books, jazz music, cooking, sailing and cross-country skiing.

As a Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs my work concentrated on topics in “Pension and Accident Insurance”, “Politics for Disabled People”, “Social Welfare and Social Insurance”. My task was to support and represent our Federal Minister Olaf Scholz in our Federal Parliament and its bodies, on the European Union level, in the Parliamentary Group of the SPD, also in alliances, organisations, media and in conferences. The Labour Market Policy is an important topic for me as well.

Another topic which is very close to me is any policy of the Baltic Sea region. This is especially important for the region of Schleswig-Holstein, too. The economy is growing rapidly and it is the central engine for jobs and welfare in the countries bordering the Baltic Sea. Not only economical and social topics, but also the cooperation in environment issues and cultural exchange is important for the Baltic Sea region, because our common goal is to create a competitive and social Europe. This cooperation includes also Russia and the EFTA states Norway and Iceland. And it is also about questions of social security and working conditions in growing cross-border labour markets. This is why I am very actively engaging myself in the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC) for a long time as head of the delegation of the German Bundestag in the BSPC, as member of its Standing Committee, as chairman of the BSPC Working Group on Labour Market and Social Welfare, as chairman of the German-Nordic Parliamentary Group in the German Bundestag and in the Baltic Sea Labour Network.

If you have any questions, remarks or criticism, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.