Vice chancellor, finance minister, co-leader of Germany's oldest party, the center-left Social Democrats (SPD): This week, Lars Klingbeil becomes one of Germany's most powerful politicians.
Guitar enthusiast, family man, soon to be vice-chancellor: Lars Klingbeil has reached the top of German politicsImage: Moritz Frankenberg/dpa/picture alliance
"This government must succeed. It must do so with team play, with the courage to make decisions and with more trust in the citizens," Klingbeil said to those gathered, adding that trust comes through action, not through announcements.
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Klingbeil's very own cabinet picks
Prior to the signing of the coalition treaty, Klingbeil announced the names of the SPD's picks for the cabinet posts. To many observers, the most astonishing thing about the list of names was who is not on it: Svenja Schulze, the long-serving minister first for the environment and then for development, Hubertus Heil, the long-serving minister of labor, and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser are among the most prominent SPD ministers to leave the cabinet. Only Defense Minister Boris Pistorius may continue in the new cabinet of likely Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU). All other SPD ministers are new in their posts. This is what a fresh start looks like.
Klingbeil reportedly came up with this new beginning largely on his own. He is one of two party leaders of the SPD, which garnered only 16% in February's general election — a record low. Still, Klingbeil clinched the powerful positions of vice chancellor and finance minister, while SPD co-chair Saskia Esken ended up empty-handed.
Meet Germany's new government
Germany's new government is in place. Cabinet ministers include loyal allies of CDU Chancellor Friedrich Merz and SPD leader Lars Klingbeil. However, some of the appointments are surprising.
Image: Christian Mang/REUTERS
Chancellor: Friedrich Merz
After taking two rounds to get elected in the Bundestag, 69-year-old lawyer Merz faces enormous challenges in domestic and foreign policy. Germany's economy is in the doldrums, while the right-wing extremist AfD continues to make gains. The CDU leader wants to boost the economy and limit migration. He has his work cut out for him: never has a new chancellor been as unpopular as Friedrich Merz.
Image: Uwe Koch/HMB-Media/IMAGO
Finance Minister: Lars Klingbeil (SPD)
The SPD leader has not only taken over the finance portfolio, but is also deputy chancellor. This makes the 47-year-old a central figure in the SPD despite the disastrous result in February's election. Klingbeil studied political science, sociology and history. He has been a member of the Bundestag since 2005. He has no government experience to date.
Image: Moritz Frankenberg/dpa/picture alliance
Defense Minister: Boris Pistorius (SPD)
Boris Pistorius is the only SPD minister to retain his post. He regularly tops the rankings of the most popular politicians. The 65-year-old has been in office since January 2023 and has also earned a high reputation in the Bundeswehr. Pistorius wants to make the troops "war ready" — and is set to receive the money needed to do so.
Image: Anna Ross/dpa/picture alliance
Foreign Minister: Johann Wadephul (CDU)
Johann Wadephul, 62, has been a Bundestag lawmaker since 2009 and has focused on foreign policy. The doctor of law and former soldier is well-connected internationally and is seen to be diplomatic and pragmatic. He has a lot in common with Merz, with whom he will likely work in unison on foreign policy.
Image: Political-Moments/IMAGO
Interior Minister: Alexander Dobrindt (CSU)
Alexander Dobrindt already served as transport minister under Chancellor Angela Merkel. As the new interior minister, the 54-year-old sociologist will push for a tougher stance on migration: more rejections at borders, suspension of family reunification and deportations to Syria and Afghanistan. Dobrindt rejects dual citizenship as well as equal rights for same-sex couples.
Image: Bernd Elmenthaler/IMAGO
Labor and Social Affairs Minister: Bärbel Bas (SPD)
Bärbel Bas gained nationwide prominence when she became president of the Bundestag in 2021. She hails from a working-class background and her path to top political office was not necessarily predetermined. But the 57-year-old from Duisburg persevered and worked her way up. She is in charge of the ministry with the largest budget.
Image: Kay Nietfeld/dpa/picture alliance
Economy Minister: Katherina Reiche (CDU)
Katherina Reiche is returning to politics. The 51-year-old chemist, who grew up in East Germany, became a Bundestag lawmaker at the age of 25 and rose to become Parliamentary State Secretary. In 2015, she switched to the business world, becoming the CEO of Westenergie AG. In 2020, she was appointed chairwoman of the National Hydrogen Council, which advises the German government.
Image: Kay Nietfeld/dpa/picture alliance
Digitalization and Modernization Minister: Karsten Wildberger
Karsten Wildberger is the big surprise in Merz's lineup. The expert on digital transformation, who heads a brand new ministry, holds a doctorate in physics and has pursued a career in international management that took him to Boston Consulting, T-Mobile and E.ON, among others. Most recently, the 56-year-old was CEO of MediaMarktSaturn, Europe's largest chain of consumer electronics stores.
Image: Malte Ossowski/SvenSimon/picture alliance
Development Minister: Reem Alabali-Radovan (SPD)
The political scientist was born in Moscow to Iraqi parents. The 35-year-old grew up in East Germany, and was previously the Federal Government Commissioner for Integration and Anti-Racism in the Chancellery. Alabali-Radovan has been a member of the Bundestag since 2021; before that, she was integration commissioner for the state government of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Image: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa/picture alliance
Justice Minister: Stefanie Hubig (SPD)
The 56-year-old Social Democrat has been education minister in Rhineland-Palatinate since 2016. She is anything but a stranger to the Federal Justice Ministry: the doctor of law from Frankfurt am Main has held several positions there and was state secretary from 2014 to 2016. Before her political career, Hubig worked as a public prosecutor and judge.
Image: Jürgen Heinrich/IMAGO
Environment Minister: Carsten Schneider (SPD)
The 49-year-old hails from Erfurt. He is a trained banker and has been a member of the Bundestag since 1998. He quickly made a name for himself as a financial expert and budget politician for his parliamentary group. Most recently, he was commissioner for Eastern Germany in the Chancellery. Schneider belongs to the conservative part of the center-left SPD, just like Lars Klingbeil.
Research, Technology and Space Minister: Dorothee Bär (CSU)
Dorothee Bär has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2002 and is one of the deputy chairs of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. The 47-year-old has been one of the deputy party leaders of the CSU since 2017. From 2018 to 2021, she was Chancellor Angela Merkel's government commissioner for digitalization. In the 2021 election campaign, she was responsible for digital and technology policy.
Image: Emmanuele Contini/IMAGO
Construction Minister: Verena Hubertz (SPD)
The 37-year-old from Trier came to politics from the world of business. After studying economics, she initially founded and managed a startup company. She entered the Bundestag in 2021. She is considered unpretentious, full of drive and results-oriented, qualities that she needs in her new office. The housing shortage is one of the biggest problems in Germany.
Image: Harald Tittel/dpa/picture alliance
Health Minister: Nina Warken (CDU)
Nina Warken is also an unexpected pick. The 45-year-old joined the CDU when she was studying law, and has been a member of the Bundestag since 2013. She has mainly worked on domestic policy issues and will now have to quickly familiarize herself with health policy.
Image: Arnulf Hettrich/IMAGO
Education and Family Affairs Minister: Karin Prien (CDU)
Karin Prien is considered to be one of the most high-profile education specialists in the CDU. The 59-year-old lawyer has been education minister in Schleswig-Holstein since 2017. She is known for her strong opinions and does not shy away from debate. She was born and grew up in the Netherlands, where her grandparents lived after fleeing the Nazis.
Image: Jens Schicke/IMAGO
Agriculture Minister: Alois Rainer (CSU)
Sixty-year-old Alois Rainer trained as a butcher and helps run the family business, which comprises a restaurant, in the Bavarian Forest. He has been in the Bundestag since 2013 and is responsible for budget and transport issues. He will replace Cem Özdemir, a self-professed vegan and member of the Green Party. For CSU party chief Markus Söder, Rainer symbolizes a turnabout in agricultural policy.
Image: Christoph Hardt/Geisler-Fotopress/picture alliance
Transport Minister: Patrick Schnieder (CDU)
As transport minister, Patrick Schnieder will have a lot of money to spend. A large part of the new €500 billion ($568 bn) fund for infrastructure is to be spent on the renovation of dilapidated transport routes. The 56-year-old lawyer comes from western Germany, has been a member of the Bundestag since 2009, and was most recently parliamentary secretary of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.
Image: dts Nachrichtenagentur/IMAGO
Chancellor's Office: Thorsten Frei (CDU)
The 52-year-old lawyer Thorsten Frei is seen as Merz's closest confidant. He has been a member of the Bundestag since 2013. He has a reputation for always being friendly, is considered to be eloquent and knowledgeable on a broad range of topics. As head of the chancellery, his job is to anticipate trouble and pitfalls for Merz at an early stage, and clear them out of the way.
Image: Bernd Elmenthaler/IMAGO
Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media: Wolfram Weimer
The publisher, historian and journalist Wolfram Weimer is a staunch conservative. The 60-year-old has written books with titles that translate as "The Conservative Manifesto" and "Longing for God." He worked for the conservative dailies FAZ and Die Welt and was editor-in-chief of Cicero and Focus before founding a publishing house. His job will include federal media policy and remembrance culture.
Image: -/teutopress/picture alliance
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The new strong man of the Social Democrats is 47 years old. And he comes from Lower Saxony, like many leading SPD politicians in recent decades, most notably former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.
Klingbeil's father was a Bundeswehr soldier, his mother a retail saleswoman. The family lived in Munster, where one of the largest Bundeswehr bases in the whole of Germany is located. Klingbeil completed his A-levels and, in the then-obligatory choice, opted to do community service rather than military training. He worked at the "Bahnhofsmission" in Hanover, a charity with an office at all major German train stations offering immediate support for people in distress, such as food, clothes, a place to sleep and medical care. During this time, Klingbeil started building his network within the Social Democratic Party. From 2001 to 2003, he worked in Chancellor Schröder's office.
That time period also marked a turning point in Klingbeil's political outlook: He happened to be in New York during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which prompted him to abandon his pacifist beliefs and support a strengthening of the Bundeswehr as a means of self-defense. Since then, he has campaigned for an increase in spending on the Bundeswehr, like many SPD politicians on the right wing of the party.
When he entered the Bundestag in 2005, 27-year-old Klingbeil sported a tie and a piercing in his eyebrowImage: Steffen Kugler/dpa/picture alliance
A steady party career all the way to the top
Lars Klingbeil's academic career resembles that of many Social Democrats: In 2004, he completed a degree in political science at the University of Hanover, having received a scholarship from the SPD's Friedrich Ebert Foundation. In 2005, at the age of almost 27, he entered the Lower House of Parliament, the Bundestag, replacing an SPD lawmaker who retired. Klingbeil failed to be reelected in a general election in the same year. Since 2009, however, he has been a permanent member of parliament, took on the position as SPD General Secretary and finally became party co-leader alongside Saskia Esken in December 2021. As such, he was also responsible for the successful election campaigns in 2021 which brought Olaf Scholz to power, but also for the disastrous one in February 2025.
However, Lars Klingbeil managed to ensure that his party's disastrous drop into third place — behind the CDU and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) — was not primarily associated with him. He quickly built up a relationship of trust with election winner Friedrich Merz, quietly negotiated the coalition agreement and now begins his career in the new federal government.
"The fact that a vice chancellor is also finance minister and party chairman is an unusual concentration of power," political scientist Karl-Rudolf Korte told Focus magazine.
Germany's conservatives, SPD reach coalition agreement
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Klingbeil comes across as calm in the face of adversity. He was diagnosed with tongue cancer more than ten years ago, but has since recovered well, he recently reported. Klingbeil has been married since 2019 and is the father of an almost one-year-old son. As a young man, he was a guitarist with the rock band "Sleeping Silence," which has since disbanded.
Lars Klingbeil's life will not go on too quietly: One of his tasks will be to present ideas for the use of the €500 billion ($568 billion) special fund that was hastily approved after the election. After all, everyone wants to benefit from this windfall: The 16 federal states and the municipalities want to get their share for the building of roads, railroads, schools, kindergartens and so on. And after years of constant bickering between the previous government partners SPD, the Greens and the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP), Klingbeil must demonstrate newfound unity with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has never held a government office before. Klingbeil's experience and unagitated manner are seen as useful prerequisites.
This article was originally written in German.
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