Heiko Maas
Heiko Josef Maas (German pronunciation: [ˈhaɪkoː ˈjoːzɛf ˈmaːs]; born 19 September 1966 in Saarlouis) is a German lawyer[2] and former politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs (2018–2021) and as the Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection (2013–2018) in the cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel.[3] Since 2022, he has been practicing as a lawyer.[4]
Heiko Maas
Sabine Leutheusser-
Schnarrenberger (Justice)
Ilse Aigner (Consumer Protection)
Peter Jacoby
Peter Jacoby
Willy Leonhardt
Stefan Mörsdorf
Maas was born in Saarlouis to a Catholic family, and is a lawyer. Before his appointment to the federal cabinet he was active in state politics in Saarland, where he served as Minister of the Environment, Energy and Transport (1998–1999), Minister of Economy, Labor, Energy and Transport (2012–2013) and Deputy Minister-President (2012–2013).[5]
Early life, education and family[edit]
Maas was born on 19 September 1966 to a Catholic, middle class family in Saarlouis, a city near the French border that is named for Louis XIV of France. His father was a professional soldier who later became a manager at Saarlouis Body & Assembly, a car plant owned by Ford Germany, while his mother was a dressmaker.[5] He graduated from the gymnasium in 1987 and served his compulsory military service from 1987 to 1988; he thereafter worked for a year at Saarlouis Body & Assembly. From 1989 he studied law at Saarland University, and he passed his first state examination in 1993 and was called to the bar in 1996.[6]
Political career[edit]
Career in state politics[edit]
Maas was first elected to the Saarland Parliament in the 1994 Saarland state election, under the mentorship of Oskar Lafontaine who would later (March 1999) leave the Social Democrats to found his own party.[5][7] He served as Minister of the Environment, Energy and Transport from 9 November 1998 to 29 September 1999 (Klimmt cabinet).
Maas led the SPD into the 2009 state election, in which his party only gained 24.5 percent, the party’s worst election result in the state.
Maas was an SPD delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2010 and 2012.
After the 2012 state election, the SPD went into coalition with the CDU,[8] which before that election had been governing the state in coalition with the Green Party and the Liberals.[9] While the Social Democrats and Left had won enough seats to form a coalition, Maas ruled out such an alliance in favor of a coalition with the CDU led by incumbent Minister-President Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.[10] As deputy minister-president, he took over responsibility for the economy,[11] transport, and employment.[12]
Career in national politics[edit]
Following the 2013 federal elections, Maas was part of the SPD team in the negotiations with the CDU/CSU on a coalition agreement; he was a member of the energy policy working group led by Peter Altmaier and Hannelore Kraft. On 17 December 2013, he was sworn in as the Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection in the third cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel,[13] succeeding Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger. He left his position of Deputy Minister-President of the Saarland and Minister of Economy, Labor, Energy and Transport he was holding since 9 May 2012.
Maas earned the nickname 'Prohibition Minister' by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung for his many unapproved legislative proposals.[14]
In June 2017, Maas disclosed to the Bild newspaper that he was the recent recipient of an unprecedented number of death threats including a bullet casing in the mailbox of his private residence. He attributed the threats to dissatisfaction with current German immigration policy[15] since the beginning of the 2015 European migrant crisis.
Life after politics[edit]
In December 2022, Maas resigned from Bundestag and announced his intention to leave national politics. He subsequently joined the Berlin office of law firm GSK Stockmann as partner.[16] In January 2023,[17] he was also elected president of the Verband der Saarhütten,[18] a group representing employers in the Saarland steel industry.
Personal life[edit]
Since 2016, Maas has been living with the actress Natalia Wörner. From 2000 to 2016, he was married to Corinna Regneri, a teacher, with whom he has two sons.[1][5]
Maas enjoys football and is a triathlete. He is a fan of the Hamburger SV.