Johanna Wanka (née Johanna Müller) is a German politician 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...

. She is Minister of Science and Culture of the state of Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...

, in the Cabinet McAllister

Cabinet McAllister

The Cabinet McAllister is the current state government of the German state of Lower Saxony. It took office on 1 July 2010.The Cabinet is headed by Prime Minister David McAllister...

. From 2000 to 2009, she served as Minister for Science, Research and Culture of the state of Brandenburg

Brandenburg

Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...

Biography

Wanka attended the polytechnic school in Großtreben

Großtreben-Zwethau

Großtreben-Zwethau is a village and former municipality in the district Nordsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2011, it is part of the municipality Beilrode....

 and the advanced school in Torgau

Torgau

Torgau is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen.Outside Germany, the town is most well known as the place where during the Second World War, United States Army forces coming from the west met with forces of the Soviet Union...

 before studying mathematics at the University of Leipzig

University of Leipzig

The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...

. From 1974 on, she was a research assistant at the Technische Hochschule Leuna-Merseburg (Leuna-Merseburg technical high school), where she received her doctorate in 1980. In 1993 she became Professor of Engineering Mathematics at the University of Merseburg. In March 1994 she was elected rector (headmistress) of her high school, which position she retained until being called as a minister in October 2000.

She is married to mathematics professor Gert Wanka by whom she has had two children.

Political history

Wanka has been a member of the West German citizens' movement since 1989. She joined the CDU in 2001, the CDU executive in Brandenburg in May 2003, and became Chair of the Dahme-Spreewald District in December 2003. She was appointed Deputy National Chair of the CDU Brandenburg in January 2007, Acting National Chair in October 2008, and National Chair by January 2009.

The German newspaper Der Spiegel

Der Spiegel

Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...

quotes her as follows: "The Minister of Culture has long known that the spelling reform was wrong. For reasons of state, it has not been withdrawn."

Selected publications

• Solution of contact and potential problems with tax-theoretical means. A dissertation from the Faculty of technical science and mathematics at the Technische Hochschule Leuna, Merseburg, 1980, 131 p.
• Johanna Wanka (Ed.): Meeting of young scientists at the Fachhochschule Merseburg. Applied Science Conference. Aachen: Shaker, 2001, 216 S., ISBN 3-8265-8356-6.
• Foreword by Johanna Wanka in - Elke Schieber (eds): The archive of the director Frank Beyer. Filmmuseum Potsdam. Potsdam, Berlin: Filmmuseum Potsdam and Cultural Foundation of the Länder, 2004, 88 p.

External links