Katharina Landgra
GermanyEarly Life and Education
Katharina Landgraf was born in 1954 and raised in Borna, East Germany. She graduated from high school in 1972 and went on to study at the University of Rostock, where she earned a degree in Water Resources and Environmental Protection.
Career
After graduating, Landgraf worked as an engineer for a lignite mining company in Borna. In 1991, she joined the Bildungswerk Leipzig, an educational institution associated with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. She later served as a research associate at the Bildungswerk Dresden from 2004 to 2005.
Political Career
Landgraf's political career began in 1988, when she joined the East German Christian Democratic Union (CDU). After the reunification of Germany in 1990, she was elected to the first freely elected Volkskammer (People's Chamber), the East German parliament. She later became one of 144 members of the Volkskammer who were chosen to serve in the German Bundestag until the end of the year.
In 1991, Landgraf was appointed Deputy Chairwoman of the CDU's regional association in Saxony. She also held the position of Chairwoman of the Saxon Regional Women's Union from 1991 to 1995. Additionally, she served on the CDU district council of Landkreis Leipzig from 1990 and as Chairwoman of the local district association from 1995 to 2002.
Landgraf served as a member of the Saxon state parliament (Landtag) from 1999 to 2004. She was also a member of the Pegau city council from 1995 and the district assembly from 2004 to 2014, most recently in the Leipzig district.
Bundestag Membership
Landgraf was elected to the German Bundestag again in 2005 and served until 2021. She represented the constituency of Leipzig-Land and was directly elected in each election that she contested. Her share of the first votes in her constituency increased steadily, from 34.9% in 2005 to 51.3% in 2013.
In the Bundestag, Landgraf served on the Committee on Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth and on the Committee on Food and Agriculture. She was also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Agency for Civic Education and a deputy member of the Civil Obligations Subcommittee.
Retirement from Politics
In June 2020, Landgraf announced that she would not seek reelection to the Bundestag in 2021.
