Future SPD leader Bärbel Bas: What is known about her private life

When Bärbel Bas was sworn in as the new Federal Minister of Labor on May 6, 2025, the political surprise was already complete. But the bombshell followed shortly afterwards: The long-time President of the Bundestag is also set to take over as the SPD party leader—as the successor to Saskia Esken , who was more or less bullied out of office. For many in the party, this decision comes as a liberation; for others, it's an attempt to rebuild trust with familiar faces.

Alongside Lars Klingbeil, co-leader, finance minister, and vice-chancellor, she will be promoted to the fifth floor of the Willy Brandt Building. She is expected to be elected at the party conference at the end of June. Before her time as President of the Bundestag, she was more of a second-string politician, standing out in the background but rarely pushing herself into the spotlight. Who is this woman who is now taking on two key positions in the Social Democratic Party?

Bärbel Bas: Five siblings, mother housewife, father bus driver

Bärbel Bas is not a typical professional politician – yet she is one who has penetrated the political system like few others. Born in 1968 in Duisburg-Walsum, she comes from humble beginnings. Her father was a bus driver, her mother a housewife. She has five siblings. After completing her secondary school education, she began training as an office assistant at the Duisburg Transport Company. From there, she worked her way up: to social insurance clerk, health insurance business administrator, and finally to human resources management economist. Always part-time, always on the side – a CV that has become rare in the upper echelons of politics.

Her entry into politics began early: At 20, she joined the SPD , became active in the Young Socialists (Jusos), and later served as deputy chairwoman of the SPD in Duisburg. In 2009, she entered the Bundestag and distinguished herself in health policy. In 2021, she was elected President of the Bundestag – the first woman from the SPD to hold this office. She led the parliament through turbulent years, between the pandemic , the war in Ukraine, and the traffic light unrest. Always with a steady hand, rarely loud, but determined – that is how her companions describe her. Her social commitment also extends beyond parliamentary work: The SPD politician is patron of a hospice and is involved in several foundations – including those for people infected with HIV and the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.

With her move to the Federal Ministry of Labor, Bas enters the executive sphere. Social policy is her domain, pension policy her trademark. Barely in office, she announced her intention to include civil servants in the statutory pension insurance system in the future – a proposal that promptly caused unrest in the government camp. At the same time, she is now also set to take over the party leadership, together with the current co-chair, Lars Klingbeil . Following the announced withdrawal of Saskia Esken, the Social Democrats apparently want to rely on a combination of pragmatic integrity (Bas) and strategic communication skills (Klingbeil). The fact that Bas is considered to be on the left wing makes her credible to many of her party's grassroots supporters, but also difficult to control for others on the party executive.

Bärbel Bas: Football taught her how to deal with pressure

This is what she's like in private: Bärbel Bas has always valued her hometown of Duisburg and still lives there. She's a fan of MSV Duisburg, played football as a teenager, is a motorcyclist, and has remained down-to-earth. "I grew up with five siblings, so there was always something going on. Since I'm the second oldest, I had to keep the younger ones under control with my brother. That was good training for asserting yourself and not letting yourself get upset. I also used to play soccer, where you work as a team and learn to deal with pressure," Bas told Bunte magazine three years ago.

The former President of the Bundestag was married to Siegfried Ambrosius. Ambrosius had been managing director of the SPD's Duisburg sub-district for 39 years and was 27 years older than Bärbel Bas. She once revealed in an interview that she had been impressed by his demeanor and his poise. The two only married after ten years of being together, for "an unromantic reason." Her husband suffered from Parkinson's disease , and so they wanted to prepare for emergencies to avoid issuing powers of attorney. In September 2020, she lost her husband, and Ambrosius died of an infection. "I am incredibly sad and will certainly need some more time," Bärbel Bas wrote on Facebook at the time.

A year after her husband's death, she received the offer to take on the high office of President of the Bundestag. This encouraged her. She calls it an "irony of fate." Initially, however, she was uneasy about the fact that this would suddenly make her unusually visible in public, she once said. Since her husband's death, she has reportedly lived alone, with her closest confidants remaining in the background. She avoids large-scale productions. Her hobbies include hiking, nature, and fitness.

And now Bärbel Bas is a beacon of hope in difficult times. Whether she can give the SPD new momentum remains uncertain. The party is struggling with poor poll ratings, a lost chancellorship, and growing internal disorientation. Many within the party are counting on Bas's closeness to the grassroots and her expertise on social issues. Others warn of being overwhelmed: Minister, party leader – and all of this in a government in which the SPD now has to assert itself against the CDU/CSU.