Wolfgang Tiefensee
Wolfgang Tiefensee | |
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Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs ![]() | |
In office 22 November 2005 – 27 October 2009 | |
Preceded by | Manfred Stolpe |
Mayor of Leipzig | |
In office July 1 1998 – November 22 2005 | |
Preceded by | Hinrich Lehmann-Grube |
Succeeded by | Burkhard Jung |
Personal details | |
Born | Gera, Germany | January 4, 1955
Political party | SPD |
Profession | Engineer |
Website | wolfgang-tiefensee.de |
Wolfgang Tiefensee (born January 4, 1955 in Gera) is a German SPD politician. He has been the Federal Minister for Transport, Building and Urban Development in the grand coalition cabinet led by Angela Merkel since November 22, 2005.
Originally an electrical engineer, he turned to politics in 1989, during the democratization process of the German Democratic Republic. Tiefensee was elected mayor of Leipzig in 1998, and was re-elected with 67.1% of the vote in April 2005. Before 2005, he declined offers of a position in the federal government, stating his place was in Leipzig.
As mayor, he put great effort into Leipzig's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games. While Leipzig unexpectedly won the campaign to tender the German bid, the middle-sized city did not get past the first round of the international competition, which was in fact won by London.
Wolfgang Tiefensee, whose father was the musician and conductor Siegfried Tiefensee, is also known for playing the cello, a talent that he successfully incorporated into Leipzig's Olympic bid. His brother, Eberhard Tiefensee, is a Catholic priest and professor of theology at the University of Erfurt.