Sigmar Gabriel is one of Germany’s most popular politicians. His popularity reached record levels within just a few months when he held the office of Federal Foreign Minister. He is one of the best political speakers in Germany and is also highly regarded and well connected internationally. After Sigmar Gabriel... Read more
Sigmar Gabriel is one of Germany’s most popular politicians. His popularity reached record levels within just a few months when he held the office of Federal Foreign Minister. He is one of the best political speakers in Germany and is also highly regarded and well connected internationally.
After Sigmar Gabriel (*1959) studied German, politics and sociology at the University of Göttingen to become a secondary school teacher, he worked as a teacher in vocational adult education at the Lower Saxony Adult Education Centre (Bildungswerk der Niedersächsischen Volkshochschulen) until 1990.
He became involved in children’s and youth work early on in the SPD-affiliated youth organisation ‘Socialist Youth of Germany – The Falcons’ and joined the SPD in 1977. From 1987 to 1998, he was a member of the Goslar district council and from 1990 to 2005 a directly elected member of the Lower Saxony state parliament, where he was also a member of the environment committee for several years. During his time as a councillor in his home town of Goslar between 1991 and 1999, he was Chairman of the Environment Committee.
From 1994 to 1999, he held various positions within the SPD parliamentary group in Lower Saxony, latterly as its chairman. In 1999, he was elected Minister President of Lower Saxony and held this office until 2003. From 1999, Gabriel was a member of the SPD party executive until 2005, from 2009 to 2017 he was Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and from 2005 to autumn 2019 he was a directly elected member of the German Bundestag. He was a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet from 2005 to 2009 as Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. In Chancellor Merkel’s Cabinet III, he was Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy from 2013 to 2017, Vice Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany until 2018 and then Federal Foreign Minister until 2018.
Sigmar Gabriel is Chairman of Atlantik-Brücke e.V. and a member of the Trilateral Commission. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group and the Advisory Board of Deloitte. He is a political advisor and expert on European affairs for the US consulting firm Eurasia Group, has been a member of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank since May 2020 and was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Thyssen-Krupp Steel Europe from 2022 to August 2024. He has been an author for Holtzbrinck-Verlag since June 2018. Sigmar Gabriel teaches at the University of Bonn and undertook a research stay at Harvard University in autumn 2018.
He regularly hosts the geopolitical podcast “World Briefing”, where he shares his views on a changing world, and is also a guest commentator for various German-language newspapers and magazines. His in-depth knowledge of geopolitics and global energy has also made him a sought-after interviewee and expert in the media.
Sigmar Gabriel is highly respected for his economic and foreign policy expertise. He is a brilliant and convincing speaker who presents his views frankly and directly, captivating his audience.