Norbert Lammert

Norbert Lammert
Official Bundestag photo, 2011
President of the Bundestag
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 October 2005
Preceded by	Wolfgang Thierse
Personal details
Born	16 November 1948 Bochum, Allied-occupied Germany
Political party	CDU
Alma mater	Ruhr University Bochum Oxford University
Profession	Sociologist

Norbert Lammert (born 16 November 1948 in Bochum) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He has been the President of the Bundestag, the German parliament, since 2005.

Early life

Lammert attended gymnasium in Bochum where he studied classics. He obtained his abitur in 1967. He carried out military service in the Bundeswehr from 1967 to 1969. Following his military service he went on to the University of Bochum, which included a period abroad at the University of Oxford, where he studied political science and modern history. He went on to obtain his Ph.D. (Dr. rer. soc.) from the University of Bochum.

Political career

Having joined the CDU in 1966, he was deputy chairman of the Bochum branch of the CDU. After leading the North Rhine-Westphalia branch of the Junge Union (the youth organization of the CDU), he was elected to the Bundestag in 1980. During his tenure in the Bundestag he served on several committees.

Following the 2005 federal elections, Lammert was elected by the Bundestag on 18 October 2005 to replace Wolfgang Thierse of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) as its President. Lammert received 564 of 607 votes cast, including most of the SPD's votes. He was reelected to this post by the 17th Bundestag after the 2009 federal election.

Lammert is a Catholic. He is married and has four children.

Literature

Michael F. Feldkamp (ed.), Der Bundestagspräsident. Amt - Funktion - Person. 16. Wahlperiode, München 2007, ISBN 978-3-7892-8201-0

External links

• Official biography at bundestag.de
• (German) Lammert's website