Hans-Ulrich Rülke


Hans-Ulrich Rülke is a German politician and member of the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg. He has served as leader of the parliamentary group of the Free Democratic Party since 2009, and deputy leader of the FDP since 2013. He was the FDP's lead candidate for the 2016 Baden-Württemberg state election.

Personal life

Rülke was born on 3 October 1961 in Tuttlingen. He attended primary and secondary school in Singen before studying German language and literature, politics, history, and sociology in Konstanz. In 1993 he taught at Hilda-Gymnasium in Pforzheim, and from 2001 to 2005 he was specialist advisor for politics and economy at the high school office in Karlsruhe.
Rülke is married and has three children.

Political career

Rülke became a member of the Free Democratic Party in 1985. In 1999 he became chairman of the Pforzheim FDP association. The same year, he was elected to the city council of Pforzheim, and has retained his seat ever since. He served as leader of the FDP group in the council from 2001 to 2011. In 2014, he became leader of the joint FDP/Free Voter group. After the 2019 local elections, the FDP formed a group with the Free Voters, Independent Citizens, and Parents List, of which Hans-Ulrich became leader. In July 2019 the council elected him deputy mayor of Pforzheim.
Rülke was elected to the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg in the 2006 state election as a member of the Free Democratic Party. After the retirement of Ulrich Noll in June 2009, he was elected the leader of the FDP parliamentary group. He became co-deputy leader of the state party association in 2013, and a member of the federal FDP executive in 2019.
Rülke was the FDP's lead candidate for the 2016 Baden-Württemberg state election. The party achieved a 3.0-point swing, a marked improvement from its poor performance of 5.3% in 2011. The party's parliamentary group expanded from 7 to 12 members.