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Klaus WowereitGerman politician
Date of Birth: 01.10.1953
Country:  Germany |
Content:
Biography of Klaus Wowereit
Early Life and EducationKlaus Wowereit, a German politician, was born in the Tempelhof district of Berlin. He grew up in a simple family of East Prussian immigrants and was the youngest of five children. Wowereit's surname has Baltic (Lithuanian) origins and means "squirrel". He completed his education at the Ulrich von Hutten School in 1973 and went on to study law at the Free University of Berlin. During this time, he joined the ranks of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). In 1979, he passed the state legal examination and began working for the senator of internal affairs in Berlin. In 1981, he passed his second state examination.
Political Career
From 1984 to 1994, Wowereit served as a municipal councilor for education and culture in the Tempelhof district of Berlin. In 1995, he was elected to the city parliament of Berlin and became the deputy chairman of the SPD faction. In 1999, he was re-elected and became the chairman of the city parliamentary faction. On June 16, 2001, Wowereit was elected as the governing mayor of Berlin. He was re-elected to this position in 2006. During his tenure, Wowereit actively worked in the fields of culture and tourism, including overseeing the hosting of the 2006 FIFA World Cup and the Berlin International Film Festival. As a result, Berlin became the third most visited European city after Paris and London. However, the city's economic indicators worsened during his rule. Wowereit is credited with coining the phrase "poor but sexy" (German: "Arm, aber sexy") to describe Berlin.
Chairmanship and Advocacy
From 2001 to 2002, Wowereit served as the president of the Bundesrat, during which a scandal erupted over the passage of an immigration law. He actively supports initiatives for the rights of sexual minorities and has been mentioned in the German press as a potential future candidate for chancellor of Germany on behalf of the SPD.
Personal Life
Since 1993, Wowereit has been in a relationship with neurosurgeon Jörn Kubicki (1965-2020), who became one of the first celebrities in Germany to die from COVID-19. Wowereit openly declared his homosexuality during the 2001 elections, famously stating, "I am gay, and that's a good thing!" (German: "Ich bin schwul und das ist auch gut so"). This phrase became a well-known expression in Germany. Wowereit was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2006.
