Christine Bergmann

Christine Bergmann 2010

Christine Bergmann (born September 7, 1939 in Dresden ) is a German politician ( SPD ). The pharmacist was the last President of the Berlin City Council , Mayor of Berlin , Berlin Senator from 1991 to 1998 and Federal Minister for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth from 1998 to 2002 .

Life

Speech in 1991 on the unveiling of the restored Quadriga

1990

After graduating from high school in 1957, Bergmann began studying pharmacy at the University of Leipzig , which she completed with the state examination in 1963 . She then worked as a pharmacist in Berlin and from 1967 worked as a freelance worker for the Zentralblatt für Pharmazie, Pharmakotherapy and Laboratorydiagnostik . From 1977 to 1990 she worked as a research assistant at the Institute for Drugs of the GDR, where she was head of the department for drug information. At the same time, she took over the management of the editorial secretariat at the Zentralblatt für Pharmazie . In 1989 she was at the Humboldt University of Berlin with the dissertation topic to effectiveness of drug information in the GDR doctorate .

Bergmann joined the SDP immediately after the fall of the Wall . In September 1990 she became a member of the SPD during the unification party congress. From 1990 to 2004 she was deputy state chairwoman of the Berlin SPD and from 1995 to 2004 a member of the SPD federal party executive . After Peter Strieder's resignation , she temporarily took over the state chairmanship of the Berlin SPD from April to June 2004.

Bergmann was a member of the Berlin city council from May 1990 to January 1991 and also served as its president. From January 1991 to October 26, 1998 she was a member of the Berlin House of Representatives and Mayor of Berlin. In the Diepgen III Senate (1991–1996) she was Senator for Labor and Women, in the Diepgen IV Senate (1996–1998) she was Senator for Labor, Vocational Education and Women.

From October 27, 1998 to October 22, 2002 she was Federal Minister for Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth in the first Schröder cabinet . Together with Kurt Biedenkopf, she was one of the ombudsmen who were supposed to monitor the effects of the “Hartz” reforms and advise the government and parliament on upcoming revision processes. One of her concerns as minister was to abolish the immorality of voluntary prostitution and to give prostitutes access to social security systems.

Christine Bergmann was a member of the church leadership of the Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO) from 2003 to 2008.

She is a member of the honorary council of AMCHA Germany , the central organization for psychosocial help for survivors of the Holocaust and their descendants in Israel . From March 2010, Christine Bergmann was the independent commissioner for dealing with child sexual abuse on behalf of the German government. In October 2011 she was followed by Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig , who had temporarily headed her office as Berlin Senator in the early 1990s.

Christine Bergmann has been a member of the Foundation Board of Stiftung Zukunft Berlin since June 2011 .

Since October 1, 2012, she has been on the supervisory board of ZDF Enterprises GmbH.

Christine Bergmann has been a member of the Independent Commission for Coming up with Child Sexual Abuse since January 2016 .

Private

Christine Bergmann is widowed. Her husband was a veterinarian and professor at the Free University of Berlin. She has several grown children and two grandchildren.

Viewpoints

Sadomasochism and Pornography

As part of an interview with the news magazine Der Spiegel in November 1998, Bergmann demanded, among other things, a general ban on so-called "violent pornography", i.e. a general ban on the sale, lending and possession of sadomasochistic pornography , a demand that Alice Schwarzer made as part of the so-called PorNO campaign since the 1980s without success.

The demand was strongly criticized nationwide by sadomasochists and received as an attempted criminalization . Bergmann initially left inquiries from sadomasochistic representatives unanswered. After Der Spiegel received a critical letter to the editor from the SMart Rhein-Ruhr e. V. had published, the ministry responded with an answer. Among other things, this said:

"Mrs. Federal Minister Dr. Bergmann intends to reconsider the previous impunity for the dissemination of sexually degrading depictions of women who are not clearly subject to harsh pornography from a women's political point of view. "

honors and awards

2007: Order of Merit of the State of Berlin
2011: Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany
2012: Louise Schroeder Medal

literature

Werner Breunig, Andreas Herbst (ed.): Biographical handbook of the Berlin parliamentarians 1963–1995 and city councilors 1990/1991 (= series of publications of the Berlin State Archives. Volume 19). Landesarchiv Berlin, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-9803303-5-0 , p. 88.
Short biography for: Bergmann, Christine . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
Bettina Flitner : women with visions - 48 Europeans. With texts by Alice Schwarzer . 2nd Edition. Knesebeck, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-89660-357-4 , p. 42-45 .
Independent commission for dealing with child sexual abuse (ed.): Interim report June 2017 , Berlin 2017.