Claudia Nolte
Encyclopedia
Claudia Nolte was born Claudia Wiesemüller on February 7, 1966 in Rostock
, a town that then lay in East Germany. Nolte became a German
politician
of the Christian Democratic Union
party (CDU), becoming the youngest cabinet minister in German history whilst in office from 1994–98. She was Federal Minister
for family, seniors, women and youth affairs and has been President of the European Union Council of Ministers. Claudia is a Catholic and is active in the Catholic community. She is married to investigative journalist David Crawford of The Wall Street Journal
. With her marriage in July 2008, she changed her name to Claudia Crawford.
in Rostock, she took vocational training in marine electronics from 1982 to 1984.
, where she graduatated with a Diplom
degree in 1990. In October 1989 she was active in the opposition movement New Forum within the German Democratic Republic
and joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in February 1990. After completing her studies at the Technical University of Ilmenau, she accepted a position as a research assistant there but left this job within weeks owing to her election to the first freely elected East German parliament.
where she served from 1991 to 1994 as her party's spokeswoman on women's policy. From 1992 to 1994 she was a member of Thuringia CDU.
On November 18, 1994, Nolte became the minister for family, senior citizens and youth. She was 28 years old, making her the youngest German cabinet minister in German history. On November 30, 1994 she was named the European Union Council of Ministers President – again the youngest ever. In 1998 she left the German cabinet when her party joined the opposition. From 1996 to 2000 Nolte was a member of the CDU presiding council in Germany and from January 1999 to October 2002 she was commissioner of the CDU/CSU-fraction for disabled people.
From 2002 to 2005, Nolte was vice chairman for United Nations
contacts in the German parliament. In 2005 she failed to win a direct seat in the Bundestag representing the Gotha Ilm county electoral district. Under Germany's electoral law she was eligible to return to the German Federal Parliament via the state list in May 2008, but she declined.
where she directed the activities of a political foundation, heading the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung offices in Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo. In April 2010 she moved to London
where she heads (as of 2010) the activities of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung offices in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
She is a member of the German American Society, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Christlich-Demokratische Arbeitnehmerschaft (CDA) and of CDU/CSU's association of medium-sized businesses Mittelstands- und Wirtschaftsvereinigung (MIT).
Rostock
Rostock -Early history:In the 11th century Polabian Slavs founded a settlement at the Warnow river called Roztoc ; the name Rostock is derived from that designation. The Danish king Valdemar I set the town aflame in 1161.Afterwards the place was settled by German traders...
, a town that then lay in East Germany. Nolte became a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
of the Christian Democratic Union
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
party (CDU), becoming the youngest cabinet minister in German history whilst in office from 1994–98. She was Federal Minister
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
for family, seniors, women and youth affairs and has been President of the European Union Council of Ministers. Claudia is a Catholic and is active in the Catholic community. She is married to investigative journalist David Crawford of The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
. With her marriage in July 2008, she changed her name to Claudia Crawford.
Childhood
Claudia Wiesemüller was born in 1966 and in her teenage years was refused admission to a college preparatory school due to her participation in Catholic church youth activities. East German school officials required her to learn a trade before she could enroll in college, so whilst attending a technical secondary schoolSecondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
in Rostock, she took vocational training in marine electronics from 1982 to 1984.
Entry into politics
In 1985, Nolte studied automation and cybernetic engineering at the Technical University of IlmenauTechnische Universität Ilmenau
The Ilmenau University of Technology is the technical university of Thuringia and located in Ilmenau Germany...
, where she graduatated with a Diplom
Diplom
A Diplom is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, Finland , Greece, Hungary, Russia, Serbia, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Ukraine...
degree in 1990. In October 1989 she was active in the opposition movement New Forum within the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
and joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in February 1990. After completing her studies at the Technical University of Ilmenau, she accepted a position as a research assistant there but left this job within weeks owing to her election to the first freely elected East German parliament.
Political office
From March to October 1990, Nolte was a member of the parliament of the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. After German unification on October 3, 1990 she joined the BundestagBundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
where she served from 1991 to 1994 as her party's spokeswoman on women's policy. From 1992 to 1994 she was a member of Thuringia CDU.
On November 18, 1994, Nolte became the minister for family, senior citizens and youth. She was 28 years old, making her the youngest German cabinet minister in German history. On November 30, 1994 she was named the European Union Council of Ministers President – again the youngest ever. In 1998 she left the German cabinet when her party joined the opposition. From 1996 to 2000 Nolte was a member of the CDU presiding council in Germany and from January 1999 to October 2002 she was commissioner of the CDU/CSU-fraction for disabled people.
From 2002 to 2005, Nolte was vice chairman for United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
contacts in the German parliament. In 2005 she failed to win a direct seat in the Bundestag representing the Gotha Ilm county electoral district. Under Germany's electoral law she was eligible to return to the German Federal Parliament via the state list in May 2008, but she declined.
Later career
In January 2006, Nolte moved to BelgradeBelgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
where she directed the activities of a political foundation, heading the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung offices in Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo. In April 2010 she moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
where she heads (as of 2010) the activities of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung offices in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
She is a member of the German American Society, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Christlich-Demokratische Arbeitnehmerschaft (CDA) and of CDU/CSU's association of medium-sized businesses Mittelstands- und Wirtschaftsvereinigung (MIT).
Publications
- Die Bedeutung des Internet für die weltweite Wahrnehmung der Vereinten Nationen, in: Alexander Bilgeri und Alexander Wolf (Hrsg.): „Diplomatie Digital“, Verlag Barbara Budrich, Opladen 2004.
- Putins "Gelenkte Demokratie" - Weg zum authoritären Staat?, in: Erich G. Fritz (Hrsg.): Forum Internationale Politik. Russland nach den Wahlen - Weg ohne Demokratie oder russischer Weg zur Demokratie (erscheint im Herbst 2004)
- Wirtschaftsstärke mit Sozialkompetenz verbinden: globale Veränderungen fordern mündige Bürgerinnen und Bürger, in: Rita Süssmuth (Hg.): Mut zur Macht in Frauenhand - Herford. - (2001), S. 196 - 201.
- Auf jeden Fall freiheitlich demokratisch!, in: Hans-Otto Mühleisen (Hrsg.): Welche Gesellschaft - welches Deutschland?: PolitikerInnen der jungen Generation entwerfen Zukunftsbilder, Frankfurt am Main: Knecht, 1999.
- Familienpolitik als Zukunftsaufgabe, in: Die Zukunft der Familie : Aufgaben und Perspektiven moderner Familienpolitik / [hrsg. von der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Bereich Forschung und Beratung] - Sankt Augustin. - (1998), S. 9 - 19.
- Frauen sind die Gewinnerinnen der modernen Welt, in: Leitbild auch für morgen: Die soziale Marktwirtschaft: Thesen zur Gestaltung Deutschlands und Europas / Matthias Wissmann (Hrsg.). - München. (1998), S. 87 - 92.
- Läßt sich sexueller Kindesmißbrauch mit politischen Mitteln bekämpfen?, in: Prävention des sexuellen Kindesmißbrauchs: gesellschaftspolitische Implikationen und Reaktionen / Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung e.V. - München, S. 79 - 85.
- Das Internationale Jahr der Senioren der Vereinten Nationen 1999: eine Gesellschaft für alle Lebensalter; der internationale Rahmen und der derzeitige Stand der Umsetzung in Deutschland, in: Nachrichtendienst des Deutschen Vereins für Öffentliche und Private Fürsorge, - 77 (1997),9, S. 265 - 268.
Further reading
- Jansen, Mechtild. 1997. The Claudia Nolte phenomenon. Dietz, Bonn.
- MartensteinHarald MartensteinHarald Martenstein is a German journalist and author.- Biography :Martenstein studied History and Romance Studies in Freiburg. From 1981 to 1988, he was a journalist at the Stuttgarter Zeitung and from 1988 to 1997 he was a journalist at Tagesspiegel in Berlin...
, Harald. 1997. The erotic in German policy from Adenauer to Nolte. Reclam, Leipzig.
External links
- Bundestag website German language. Search for Claudia Nolte.