Sigmar Gabriel
| Sigmar Gabriel | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
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Assumed office 27 January 2017 |
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| Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
| Preceded by | Frank-Walter Steinmeier |
| Vice Chancellor of Germany | |
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Assumed office 17 December 2013 |
|
| Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
| Preceded by | Philipp Rösler |
| Leader of the Social Democratic Party | |
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Assumed office 13 November 2009 |
|
| Preceded by | Franz Müntefering |
| Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy | |
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In office 17 December 2013 – 27 January 2017 |
|
| Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
| Preceded by | Philipp Rösler (Economics and Technology) |
| Succeeded by | Brigitte Zypries |
| Minister of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety | |
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In office 22 November 2005 – 27 October 2009 |
|
| Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
| Preceded by | Jürgen Trittin |
| Succeeded by | Norbert Röttgen |
| Prime Minister of Lower Saxony | |
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In office 15 December 1999 – 4 March 2003 |
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| Preceded by | Gerhard Glogowski |
| Succeeded by | Christian Wulff |
| Member of the Bundestag for Salzgitter-Wolfenbüttel |
|
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Assumed office 18 September 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Wilhelm Schmidt |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
12 September 1959 Goslar, West Germany (now Germany) |
| Political party | Social Democratic Party |
| Alma mater | University of Göttingen |
| Signature |  |
Sigmar Gabriel (born 12 September 1959) is a German politician who currently serves as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Vice Chancellor. He has been chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) since 2009, which makes him the party’s longest-serving leader since Willy Brandt. He was the Federal Minister of the Environment from 2005 to 2009 and the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy from 2013 to 2017. From 1999 to 2003 Gabriel was Prime Minister of Lower Saxony.
Gabriel belongs to the right wing of the SPD, which shares many similarities with Tony Blair's New Labour.
Gabriel was born in Goslar, West Germany, the son of Walter Gabriel (1921–2012), a municipal civil servant, and Antonie Gabriel (1922–2014), a nurse. Gabriel's parents divorced in 1962, and for the next six years he lived with his father and grandmother Lina Gabriel, while his sister lived with their mother. After a lengthy custody battle his mother was awarded custody for both children in 1969.
Gabriel's father was a Protestant originally from Hirschberg im Riesengebirge in Silesia, while his mother was a Catholic originally from Heilsberg in the Ermland (Warmia) region of East Prussia who had most recently lived in Königsberg; both parents came as refugees to West Germany during the flight and expulsion of Germans during the Second World War. Refugees from the eastern provinces often suffered prejudices in West Germany, and his mother's family were often disregarded as "Poles" in West Germany. Sigmar Gabriel has described his family history as a "wild story of flight and expulsion" and noted that his parents dealt with the trauma of expulsion in different ways. According to Gabriel, his father was physically and emotionally abusive to him and was an enthusiastic supporter of the national socialist ideology "until his dying breath;" Walter Gabriel however never saw active service during the war, due to suffering from polio. His mother was involved in relief and solidarity work for Poland during the period of martial law in Poland.
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Wikipedia