Olaf Scholz
Olaf Scholz (German: [ˈoːlaf ˈʃɔlts] ; born 14 June 1958) is a German politician who has been the chancellor of Germany since 8 December 2021. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice Chancellor in the fourth Merkel cabinet and as Federal Minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was also First Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018, deputy leader of the SPD from 2009 to 2019, and Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs from 2007 to 2009.
"Scholz" redirects here. For other uses, see Scholz (disambiguation).
Olaf Scholz
Angela Merkel
Robert Habeck
Angela Merkel
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Ludwig Stiegler
Walter Kolbow
Fritz Rudolf Körper
Klaas Hübner
Christel Humme
Angela Merkel
Wilhelm Schmidt
Franz Müntefering
Hartmuth Wrocklage
Manja Schüle (2019)
Manja Schüle (2019)
Himself (2011)
Multi-member district
Andrea Rugbarth
Himself (2001)
Ingo Egloff
Marliese Dobberthien
Himself (2002)
Hartmuth Wrocklage
Multi-member district
14 June 1958
Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, West Germany
Social Democratic Party (since 1975)
Old Market Square, Potsdam
Scholz began his career as a lawyer specialising in labour and employment law. He became a member of the SPD in the 1970s and was a member of the Bundestag from 1998 to 2011. Scholz served in the Hamburg Government under First Mayor Ortwin Runde in 2001 and became General Secretary of the SPD in 2002, where he served alongside SPD leader and then-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. He became his party's Chief Whip in the Bundestag, later entering the First Merkel Government in 2007 as Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs. After the SPD moved into the opposition following the 2009 election, Scholz returned to lead the SPD in Hamburg. He was then elected Deputy Leader of the SPD. He led his party to victory in the 2011 Hamburg state election and became First Mayor, a position he held until 2018.
After the Social Democratic Party entered the fourth Merkel government in 2018, Scholz was appointed as both Minister of Finance and Vice Chancellor of Germany. In 2020, he was nominated as the SPD's candidate for Chancellor of Germany for the 2021 federal election. The party won a plurality of seats in the Bundestag and formed a "traffic light coalition" with Alliance 90/The Greens and the Free Democratic Party. On 8 December 2021, Scholz was elected and sworn in as Chancellor by the Bundestag, succeeding Angela Merkel.
As Chancellor, Scholz has overseen Germany's response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Despite taking a more restrained and cautious response than many other Western leaders, Scholz oversaw a significant increase in the German defence budget, weapons shipments to Ukraine, and the suspension of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Three days after the invasion, Scholz set out the principles of a new German defence policy in his Zeitenwende speech. In September 2022, three of the four Nord Stream pipelines were destroyed. During the Israel–Hamas war, he authorized substantial German military and medical aid to Israel, and denounced the actions of Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups.
Early life and education[edit]
Scholz was born on 14 June 1958, in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, and grew up in Hamburg's Rahlstedt district.[3] His parents worked in the textile industry.[4] He has two younger brothers, Jens Scholz, an anesthesiologist and CEO of the University Medical Center Schleswig Holstein;[5] and Ingo Scholz, a tech entrepreneur.
Olaf Scholz attended the Bekassinenau elementary school in Oldenfelde, and then switched to the Großlohering elementary school in Großlohe. After graduating from high school in 1977, he began studying law at the University of Hamburg in 1978 as part of a one-stage legal training course.[6] He later found employment as a lawyer specialising in labour and employment law, working at the law firm Zimmermann, Scholz und Partner.[7] Scholz joined the Social Democratic Party at the age of 17.[3]
Scholz's family is traditionally Lutheran, and he was baptized in the Protestant Church in Germany. He holds largely secular political views, and left the Church in adulthood, but has emphasised a need for appreciation of Germany's Christian heritage and culture.[8]
Personal life[edit]
Olaf Scholz is married to fellow SPD politician Britta Ernst. The couple lived in Hamburg's Altona district before moving to Potsdam in 2018.[192]
Scholz was raised in the Protestant Church in Germany and later left it.[193] At his inauguration as chancellor in 2021, Scholz took the oath of office without a reference to God (the second chancellor to do so after Gerhard Schröder). He is the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany who is not a member of a church.[194]
On 4 September 2023, Scholz announced that he would be wearing an eyepatch following a jogging accident.[195][196][197]