Christian Baldauf


Christian Baldauf is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union and former opposition leader in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. He is married and has two children.

Life and work

Baldauf studied law and administrative sciences in Mannheim and Heidelberg, and passed his first and second Staatsexamen in 1991 and 1994 respectively. In 1993/94 he was a research associate of Maria Böhmer. In 1995 he joined a law firm in Frankenthal, and is now a lawyer and specialist in employment law.

Political career

Baldauf became a member of the CDU in 1983, between 1992-96 he was the chairman of the local Frankenthal chapter of the Junge Union. In 1994 he was elected to the City Council of Frankenthal. From 1999 to February 2007 Baldauf was chairman of the CDU Frankenthal district association, his successor was Sonja Schönherr. In 2001 he won a seat in the state parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate. After his successful re-election in 2006 he was chairman of the Mainz parliament, and shortly thereafter, the party also elected him as chairman of the CDU Rhineland-Palatinate. In September 2008, Baldauf was confirmed by the delegates to the national party congress in the office as chairman of the CDU Rhineland-Palatinate.
For the 2011 state elections Baldauf proposed Julia Klöckner to oppose to then Minister President Kurt Beck. However, his party lost the election and Baldauf stepped down as leader of the opposition to make way for Klöckner. He has since been serving on the Committee on Legal Affairs, the Committee on Transport and the Council of Elders. Following Klöckner's appointment to join the federal government of Chancellor Angela Merkel, Baldauf was again elected as chairman of the CDU parliamentary group.

Other activities