Steinmeier was born on January 5, 1956 in Detmold city in North Rhine-Westphalia.
In 1974, he graduated from a gymnasium and was called up for a military service in Bundeswehr.
In 1975, Steinmeier became a member of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD).
In 1982, he graduated from the Justus Liebig University in Giessen, where he studied law and political science.
In 1983-1986, Steinmeier was a law intern in Frankfurt am Main and in Giessen, and in 1986 he defended his doctoral dissertation.
In 1986-1991, Steinmeier was a scientific assistant at the Public Law and Political Science Faculty in the University of Justus Liebig.
In 1991, Steinmeier worked as a legal counsel for communication law and media policy in the State Chancellery of Lower Saxony.
Steinmeier served as a chief of staff of then Prime Minister of Lower Saxony Gerhard Schroeder from 1993 to 1994.
In 1994-1996, Steinmeier headed the Lower Saxony’s State Chancellery’s inter-agency and planning department.
In 1996-1998, he served as a state secretary of the head of Lower Saxony’s State Chancellery.
Following Schroeder’s appointment as Germany’s chancellor in 1998, Steinmeier served from November 1998 to July 1999 as a state secretary of the Federal Government and was responsible for coordination of activities of the country’s intelligence services. From July 1999 to November 2005 he was a chief of staff of the Federal Chancellery.
In 2005, Steinmeier took office of Germany’s Foreign Minister and became a vice-chancellor in November 2007.
In September 2008, Steinmeier was nominated as candidate from the SDP to serve as the country’s chancellor.
At the parliamentary elections in September 2008 the SDP received 23 percent of votes, and Steinmeier became a leader of the SDP in Bundestag.
Following the parliamentary elections in September 2013, the SDP created a coalition with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union.
In December 2013, Steinmeier became Germany’s foreign minister for the second time.
On November 16, 2016, Steinmeier was officially nominated as the coalition candidate for the post of Germany’s president.
Steinmeier is married and has one daughter. His spouse is an administrative law judge Elke Budenbender.
Never miss a story again — sign up to our Telegram channel and we'll keep you up to speed!
