Elke Büdenbender

Elke Büdenbender
Spouse of the President of Germany
Incumbent
Assumed role 19 March, 2017
President	Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Preceded by	Daniela Schadt
Personal details
Born	Elke Büdenbender (1962-01-14) 14 January 1962 Weidenau, West Germany
Political party	Social Democratic Party
Spouse	Frank-Walter Steinmeier ​ ​ (m. 1995)​
Children	Merit Steinmeier

Elke Büdenbender (born 14 January 1962) is a German judge, and, since 1995, the wife of Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the current President of Germany. She has sometimes been referred to by the media as "First Lady".

Early life

Elke Büdenbender attended intermediate secondary school in Siegen, after which she trained as an industrial clerk at a company in the machine building industry in Siegen. In 1982 she attended Siegerland College in Siegen and then worked as a clerk at a logistics company. In 1985, she began her degree in law at Justus Liebig University in Giessen, where she passed her first state law examination in 1991.

Career

From 1987, she worked as a student assistant and later as a research assistant to Professor Brun-Otto Bryde at the Chair of Public Law. She completed her practical legal training at Hanover Regional Court in 1994, when she passed her second state law examination. Thereafter, Ms Büdenbender worked as a judge at Hanover Administrative Court. She has been a judge at Berlin Administrative Court since 2000. She is currently on long-term leave in order to devote her time to being the first lady.

Personal life

In 1995 Elke Büdenbender married Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who was elected as the twelfth President of the Federal Republic of Germany on 12 February 2017. They have one daughter.

Honours

Foreign Honours

• Finland: Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose (17 September 2018)
• Iceland: Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon (16 June 2019)
• Italy: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (17 September 2019)
• Latvia: Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Three Stars (19 February 2019)