Peter Ramsauer | |
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Peter Ramsauer
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Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Development Germany |
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In office 28 October 2009 – 17 December 2013 |
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Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
Preceded by | Wolfgang Tiefensee |
Succeeded by | Alexander Dobrindt |
Personal details | |
Born |
Traunwalchen, Bavaria, West Germany |
10 February 1954
Nationality | German |
Political party | Christian Social Union in Bavaria |
Spouse(s) | Susanne |
Children | 4 |
Alma mater | Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich |
Peter Ramsauer (born 10 February 1954) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) who served as the Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Development in the Second Merkel cabinet. He has been described as the self-appointed "shepherd" of the German language; seeking to purify it especially of English loanwords.
Ramsauer was born in the Upper Bavarian village of Traunwalchen, since 1978 part of Traunreut. He completed his Abitur at the Staatliches Landschulheim Marquartstein gymnasium in 1973 and studied business economics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he obtained his Diploma in 1979 and his PhD in 1985. Ramsauer has also qualified as a professional miller in accordance with the traditional occupation of his ancestry.
He is married and has four daughters. His wife Susanne is a cousin of American actress Sandra Bullock. Ramsauer is also a competent pianist.
Ramsauer joined the conservative Young Union (JU) youth organisation in 1972 and the CSU in 1973. He was elected Bavarian vice chairman of the JU in 1983 and vice chairman of the CSU in 2008.
In 1978 Ramsauer obtained a seat in the municipal diet (Stadtrat) of Traunreut and in 1984 became a member of the district assembly of Traunstein.
Ramsauer ran successfully in the 1990 federal election and has been a member of the Bundestag parliament since then. From 1994 until 1998, he was a member of the parliament’s Council of Elders, which – among other duties – determines daily legislative agenda items and assigning committee chairpersons based on party representation. From 1998 to 2005 he served as CSU Chief Whip of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. In the 2009 elections Ramsauer was re-elected by 54.6 percent of the votes cast.