Ministers of the CDU and CSU: This is how the Berliner Zeitung assesses the Merz cabinet
Few prominent figures, but many surprises: Friedrich Merz and Markus Söder presented their candidates for the cabinet of the future federal government on Monday. The Berliner Zeitung provides an overview of the new CDU/CSU ministers and awards school grades for the personnel decisions. In any case, it is clear: The Chancellor has heeded our request to focus more on professional expertise rather than party affiliation.
Thorsten Frei , Head of the Federal Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Affairs
Experience: Thorsten Frei was once mayor of Donaueschingen, a small town in Baden-Württemberg. But that was about it as far as government experience goes. If his resume alone were anything to go by, the 51-year-old would certainly not be the first choice for this important seat at the cabinet table. After all, he has never seen the inside of either a state or federal government. However, Frei has already served in the Bundestag for twelve years, most recently as parliamentary manager of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group and thus as Friedrich Merz's right-hand man. So he knows how to manage and organize staff – and enjoys the trust of the future chancellor.
Communication skills: Frei is considered an approachable conversationalist within the CDU/CSU and has a reputation as a fair colleague, even across party lines. He was one of the CDU's most important negotiators during the coalition talks; within the CDU/CSU, his "guiding hand" was clearly evident. Frei explained his party leader's plans to the public calmly, objectively, and without blunders during the election campaign. He was also a persistent political explainer to journalists—a quality needed as head of the Chancellery.
Professional expertise: Frei is said to have "outstanding management skills" within the parliamentary group. One of his most important tasks will be to keep the coalition running and mediate between the ministries – especially if things get shaky between the CDU, CSU, and SPD. As head of the Chancellery, Frei will have to be a versatile expert. He is considered to have a broad range of expertise and is well-informed – and made a name for himself in migration policy when he proposed national quotas for the admission of refugees in 2023, instead of individual asylum rights. Migration is expected to be one of his chancellor's central themes – Frei is very well prepared in this area.
Budget responsibility: Frei has not been responsible for large budgets so far.
Outstanding projects: Frei's most significant success in federal politics was his unification of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group after the Merkel era and its establishment of opposition alongside Friedrich Merz.
International experience: Frei largely lacks this. However, as parliamentary group manager, he has been able to establish contacts at the European level in recent years, which will be particularly important in migration policy.
School grade: 2+
Experience: As chairman of the CSU state group, Alexander Dobrindt, 54, was one of the most influential members of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group for eight years. He represented Bavarian interests in parliament, effectively acting as Markus Söder's deputy. Apart from that, Dobrindt can look back on a long, varied political career: He has been a member of the Bundestag since 2002, served as CSU General Secretary under Horst Seehofer, and as Angela Merkel's Minister of Transport. This period also saw the impetus for the planned car toll—a project Dobrindt championed, which became known as the "foreigner toll," later failed spectacularly and cost a lot of money.
Communication skills: Dobrindt is a gifted political rhetorician, described in the media as a "rabble-rouser." Restraint was not his style in talk shows or in parliament; he coined terms like the "anti-deportation industry" and called Olaf Scholz a "coma chancellor" and "sticky Olaf." Meanwhile, in the coalition talks between the CDU/CSU and SPD, according to negotiating sources, he acted as a knowledgeable, conciliatory mediator. In personal dealings, he is said to be a genuinely honest and trustworthy parliamentary colleague—a sentiment echoed by members of other factions. The fact that he worked closely with his arch-enemies Seehofer and Söder speaks to a certain flexibility that is no detriment in politics.
Professional competence: The sociologist is considered a good networker and power politician, less of an expert. However, he is said to have once been co-responsible for Interior Minister Horst Seehofer's "Migration Master Plan." He recently advocated a "tough approach" to migration policy. When his work as Interior Minister is evaluated one day, the main focus will be on whether he was able to fulfill the promises the CDU/CSU made during the election campaign. His party, the CSU, will now be primarily responsible for limiting migration – because Dobrindt's party colleague Daniela Ludwig will join him as State Secretary in the Interior Ministry. Hardly any other minister must meet such high expectations.
Budget responsibility: As a former federal minister and general secretary, Dobrindt was responsible for many budgets. Opinions differ as to how responsibly he acted in this regard – the Greens blamed him for the toll disaster, but Dobrindt himself strongly denied this.
Outstanding projects: As Minister of Transport, Dobrindt had—to put it mildly—a meager record. However, he represented Bavaria's interests with perseverance and passion.
International experience: Dobrindt has rarely appeared on the international political stage. As a Bavarian, he likely has good contacts in Austria, which could be helpful in the area of migration. Dobrindt will still have to prove that he can negotiate effectively at the European level, especially on asylum issues.
Grade: 3
Karin Prien , Federal Minister for Education, Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth
Experience: Karin Prien, 59, could become the first Jewish woman in a German cabinet. She was born in the Netherlands, where her grandparents fled the Nazis in the 1930s. She is married, has three adult sons, and was a long-time partner in a commercial law firm. She has been active in the CDU since the 1980s. It almost seems as if her entire career has been directed toward the office of Federal Minister of Education. She has been Minister of Education in Schleswig-Holstein since 2017. She chairs the CDU's Committee on Education, Research, and Innovation, was President of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs in 2022, and has coordinated the CDU-led states there since 2024. Within the CDU, she, like her previous boss, Schleswig-Holstein Minister-President Daniel Günther, is considered a representative of the liberal wing.
Communication skills: Prien is considered Germany's best-known education minister. She regularly appears on talk shows and speaks out not only on education issues, but also repeatedly on anti-Semitism and other social topics. She also makes some communication blunders. In 2021, she prematurely expressed public solidarity with singer Gil Ofarim, who claimed to have been insulted by a Leipzig hotel employee because of his Star of David. Prien demanded on X that the employee be fired, writing: "Unbelievable that something like this is happening in Germany." When Ofarim admitted to lying in court in 2023, she felt compelled to issue a public apology.
Professional expertise: Hardly any politician in the CDU is as well-suited to the Ministry of Education as Karin Prien. She played a leading role in the negotiations on the education chapter of the new coalition agreement between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD). And according to her plans, the areas of education and youth will be managed under one roof in the next legislative period. This is entirely in line with her vision of a strategic education policy along the entire education chain: from daycare to school and training to continuing education. Prien's many years of experience as a state minister demonstrate her suitability to lead a large department. However, her policies have also drawn criticism in Schleswig-Holstein. For example, she is responsible for the fact that teaching hours will be cut in her state in the future – despite the deteriorating results in educational studies. When it comes to the areas of family, senior citizens, and women, little is known about Prien's professional expertise.
Budget responsibility: With around 2.6 billion euros, Prien is responsible for the largest budget of all departments in Schleswig-Holstein.
Outstanding projects: Karin Prien launched projects such as the Education Initiative, "Dream Job Teacher," and the Mathematics Master Plan to strengthen education and integration. Her digital and anti-Semitism initiatives are scoring points, but cuts and weak PISA results are dampening their success. Ambitious, but not entirely convincing.
International experience: Prien grew up in the Netherlands, but moved to Germany with her family at an early age. She earned a Master of Laws in Amsterdam in 1991. She has no known further international experience.
Grade: 2
Johann Wadephul, Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs
Experience: The new Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul, has made his name primarily through his critical statements about Russia. "Russia will always remain an enemy for us," he said in 2024 in a telephone conversation with two Russian comedians posing as members of the Ukrainian presidential office. The man from Schleswig-Holstein's waterfront has never lived abroad for an extended period. What is known about his views echoes West German CDU policy of the 1970s: The enemy is in Moscow; against the Eastern and détente policy; Russians cannot be trusted. Continuity with Annalena Baerbock's foreign policy is even less to be expected; the feminists in the Foreign Office will be lonely. Wadephul has not held any significant personnel responsibility to date.
Communication skills: Wadephul has not yet emerged as a communication genius, but the man can certainly be diplomatic.
Professional expertise: The reserve lieutenant began his political career as state chairman of the Junge Union Schleswig-Holstein (Young Union of Schleswig-Holstein). From 2000, he served as a member of the Kiel state parliament, and since 2009, he has been a member of the Bundestag. A successful and unimpressive German political career.
Budget responsibility: Wadephul has not had any significant budget responsibility to date.
Outstanding projects: Projects that stand out in particular are not yet known.
International experience: Wadephul's CV shows no significant transatlantic influence. No academic year, no extended stay in the US—no extended stay abroad at all. However, in recent months, Wadephul has completed several important trips to coordinate with allies. Nevertheless,
Grade: 3
Katherina Reiche, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy
Experience: The 51-year-old served in the Bundestag for 17 years. During this time, she served twice as Parliamentary State Secretary – four years in the Ministry of Environmental Protection and another two years in the Ministry of Transport. Thus, she has extensive administrative experience, including in human resources management. As a native of Brandenburg (born in Luckenwalde), Reiche could theoretically be considered a voice of the East. However, she hasn't been active in the Brandenburg CDU for ten years. The name of her previous employer alone is a no-go for many when it comes to Eastern expertise: the E.ON subsidiary Westenergie.
Communication skills: On the one hand, as Parliamentary State Secretary, it was her job to maintain close contact with ministries and members of parliament. If a ministry fails there, it will be very difficult for it to get legislation through parliament. In contrast, Reiche left many in the CDU at home with a scorched earth effect. Although she was considered a promising young candidate in the traditionally divided Potsdam CDU for a time, she was repeatedly challenged by contested candidates, and she also received a warning from her own ranks when she was nominated for the Bundestag constituency. When Reiche left the Bundestag in 2015, she also resigned from the chairmanship of the Potsdam CDU. Although Friedrich Merz received praise for Reiche's appointment from the state leaders Jan Redmann (Brandenburg) and Michael Kretschmer (Saxony), the alienation, especially with the second row in eastern Germany, is well advanced.
Professional expertise: Shortly after leaving parliament in the middle of the legislative period, Reiche, a chemist with a degree, initially became managing director of the Association of Municipal Utilities—much to the dismay of, for example, the Lobbycontrol association, which consistently demands a cooling-off period for transitions from politics to business. Reiche ignored this and later moved to the energy company E.ON. She has chaired the management of its subsidiary Westenergie for five years. Since then, Reiche has also served as chairwoman of the German Federal Government's National Hydrogen Council. She also served for a time on the Council for Sustainable Development. Thus, she likely possesses professional expertise, and her contact with politics has apparently never been lost.Budget responsibility: As State Secretary in two ministries, she was at least jointly responsible for large budgets and thousands of employees. The board of the energy supplier Westenergie, which she has chaired for five years, reported total revenue of approximately €5.9 billion and investments of approximately €855 million for 2023. At the same time, Westenergie had approximately 10,000 employees, including about 800 trainees.
Outstanding projects: Katherina Reiche's goal is considered the greatest challenge in industrial history: the decarbonization of the energy system by 2045. But Reiche also has another societal development in mind: Shortly after becoming CEO of Westenergie, the energy company founded FEMpower, a training academy for women. This is intended to empower women within the company. Reiche is also considered an advocate of women's quotas on executive boards.
International experience: Reiche began her chemistry studies at the University of Potsdam, later she spent time at Clarkson University (New York State, USA) and the University of Turku (Finland).
Grade: 2-
Nina Warken, Federal Minister of Health
Experience: Her biography shows the 45-year-old lawyer to be an experienced politician. The lawyer, who specializes in administrative, social, and civil law, as well as intellectual property law, began her career as a member of the Bundestag in 2013. At the beginning of the last legislative period, Nina Warken was elected to parliament via direct mandate for the Odenwald-Tauber constituency. She has experience in committee work, including serving on the committee of inquiry into the car toll, and most recently as parliamentary manager and a member of the Council of Elders. She has held various offices within her party. Her focus was on legal and domestic policy, which is why her nomination as head of the health department comes as a surprise. However, she is not the first lawyer to hold the position.
Communication skills: Compared to the previous incumbent, any successor would likely have had the opportunity to distinguish themselves in their own way. Karl Lauterbach (SPD) stood out for his strong desire to communicate, which was evident in talk shows and social media. Internally, however, the minister was not exactly considered a communications genius. This could certainly speak for Nina Warken, given that her communication prioritizes quality over quantity.
Professional expertise: A connection to the topic of health is evident when looking back at the coronavirus pandemic . Nina Warken was appointed to a COVID-19 advisory committee in 2021. Her task at the time: to develop health, legal, and social issues related to dealing with future pandemics and to provide scientifically based recommendations for action. A similar area of responsibility also exists in her ministry. She also has experience in disaster and crisis management as the former president of the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) in Baden-Württemberg. In her new position, she could benefit from her familiarity with mechanisms at both the state and federal levels, which can only be an advantage in a federally organized healthcare system.
Budget responsibility: Nina Warken has been General Secretary of the CDU Baden-Württemberg since 2023.
Outstanding projects: Nina Warken faces the greatest challenges of her political career in the coming legislative period. Hospital reform must be pushed forward, with many details still unresolved; the current unstructured decline in hospitals must be stopped, and the new system must be planned and sensibly designed and financially supported. A much greater financial challenge awaits health and long-term care insurance, both of which, in their current form, are headed for a sociopolitical fiasco. In a healthcare system in which thestatutory health insurance (SHI) spends more than €320 billion annually, there are many conflicting interests that want their share of the money and that must be reconciled. How long Nina Warken's advantage of being free from lobby influence in this field will last remains to be seen.
International experience: Nina Warken was the integration officer of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group from 2019 to 2021.
Grade: 2-
Patrick Schnieder, Federal Minister of Transport
Experience: Patrick Schnieder's alleged passion is transport policy. However, the qualified lawyer and former mayor of Arzfeld has primarily attracted attention as a diligent parliamentarian. He has been a member of the Bundestag since 2009 and has been parliamentary manager of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group since 2018. Before that, he was general secretary of the CDU Rhineland-Palatinate. So, he has leadership experience. Whether he has what it takes to become a federal minister remains to be seen.
Communication skills: Schnieder sees himself as an Eiffel Tower. At least, that's what the 2.02-meter-tall Eifel native calls his podcast: "Eifelturm-Talk." There, he speaks with his party's grandees, Thorsten Frei, Julia Klöckner, and Philipp Amthor. However, he doesn't reach a particularly large audience. He's considered reliable. And close to the people. In his Bitburg constituency, he received the best first-vote result in all of Rhineland-Palatinate. So, at least his communicative skills seem to be winning over his voters.
Professional expertise: Schnieder served on the Bundestag's Transport Committee and, by his own account, initiated important infrastructure projects for his region. However, given the enormous infrastructure challenges facing Germany, this is a bit of a letdown. One would have hoped for a visionary, fully-fledged transport professional who would finally find solutions to dilapidated bridges and disastrous railway conditions.
Budget responsibility: As mayor, Schnieder managed the budget of the Arzfeld municipality. Now, a mammoth task awaits him: the €500 billion special fund for infrastructure. While he lacks concrete experience with large budgets, his political experience at least promises sound management.
Outstanding projects: None known.
International experience: As chairman of the Belgium-Luxembourg parliamentary group and a member of the German-Italian group, he maintains cross-border contacts. However, no significant stays abroad are known.
Grade: 3-
Alois Rainer, Federal Minister of Agriculture
Experience: Rainer comes from a region with a high farming density, even by Bavarian standards—the Bavarian Forest. He is not a teacher or lawyer, like many professional politicians, but a trained butcher. He still runs the small business today together with his brother. However, the family is a true CSU dynasty: Alois Rainer Sr. has served in the Bundestag for the CSU, and the most well-known politician in the family to date has been Rainer's sister, the former Minister of Construction and Health Gerda Hasselfeldt.
Communication skills: Let's just say he hasn't been noticed as a big beer tent speaker in the CSU so far.
Professional competence: The Münchner Merkur newspaper reports Söder's statement: "The green vegetarian Özdemir will be succeeded by the black butcher Rainer." His profession will be one, perhaps even the deciding factor in his appointment. Furthermore, after preferred candidate Günther Felßner declined, someone with at least basic knowledge of the department was needed.
Budget responsibility: Rainer was mayor of his hometown for 18 years – and even in wealthy Bavaria, in this position, you have to learn to turn the euro over now and then.
Outstanding projects: None that are known beyond the borders of the Free State.
International experience: None known – only this much: Rainer from Lower Bavaria is not known even to insiders in Munich who are familiar with the CSU.
Grade: 3
Karsten Wildberger, Federal Minister for Digital and State Modernization
Experience: Karsten Wildberger brings a breath of fresh air to the cabinet: a PhD engineer from Aachen, strategy consultant at BCG, board member at E.ON, and supervisory board member at the renowned Jülich Research Center. In terms of expertise, he represents what Germany has long lacked: technological expertise combined with leadership experience in large organizations. Wildberger has not yet held political office—perhaps that is precisely his greatest advantage. Rethinking administration instead of managing administration: who, if not a former manager, could do that? He held a leadership position on the CDU Economic Council. There, he got a taste of politics, and that's where he must have caught Merz's attention. A personnel decision for which Merz deserves special praise.
Communication skills: Wildberger is considered analytical, clear, and straightforward. Presentations, strategy meetings, shareholder meetings – these are where he learned to get to the point. Politics, however, follows its own rules. Listening, mediating, and sometimes even putting the brakes on – skills that Wildberger has yet to develop. Administration isn't a quarterly report.
Professional expertise: Digitalization, efficiency, transformation – for Wildberger, these aren't just buzzwords, but professional experience. He has restructured companies, mastered systems, and streamlined processes. Whether the momentum from the corporate world is enough to modernize the often sluggish administrative structures will be a real stress test – for him and for the authorities.
Budget responsibility: Billion-dollar budgets are part of Wildberger's daily routine. Planning, steering, controlling – routine. But politics isn't a CFO meeting. Here, majorities, persuasiveness, and tact count at least as much as spreadsheets. How well Wildberger masters this skill remains to be seen.
Outstanding projects: Wildberger has demonstrated his ability to transform large systems at Telstra in Australia and Ceconomy in Germany. Transformation projects, restructuring, and digitalization: he brings all of these capabilities to the table. Naturally, he lacks experience in public administration. However, he may also be familiar with the entrenched mindsets that often prevent real change.
International experience: Stations in Australia, Great Britain, and Romania have broadened his perspective. International comparisons, pragmatic solutions, and little patience for German fragmentation—this could help awaken the German administration from its slumber.
Grade: 1
Dorothee Bär, Federal Minister for Research, Technology and Space
Experience: Dorothee Bär has no scientific training and has not previously worked in any relevant research field. Dorothee Bär demonstrated at least a hint of inventiveness when she chaired the German Federal Government's Innovation Council, an advisory body on digitalization that met biannually between 2018 and 2021, together with entrepreneur Frank Thelen. Politically, she is a CSU heavyweight.
Communication skills: Bär is considered a clever speaker and skilled tactician; she is popular with the people of Bavaria.
Expertise: Bär is supposed to bring coveted research contracts such as AI projects to Bavaria. So far, she's made a name for herself primarily by consistently supporting Söder. Now it's paying off, as she's been appointed a ministerial post. She's had nothing to do with research so far. But: She shouldn't be reduced to her looks and her Franconian accent. She's worked her way up in the male-dominated CSU, and that's quite something.
Budget responsibility: Dorothee Bär has not yet had significant budgetary responsibility, as would be required for a ministerial position. Her responsibilities focused on political coordination and strategic planning, not on managing large budgets.
Outstanding projects: Dorothee Bär played a key role in developing the Federal Government's data strategy, which was adopted in January 2021. The strategy comprises around 240 measures and aims to establish Germany as a leading location for data innovations.
International experience: Bär was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee from 2005 to 2009. In this role, she served as deputy foreign policy spokesperson for her parliamentary group and a member of the German-Korean and German-Swiss parliamentary groups.
Grade: 3-
Wolfram Weimer, Minister of State for Culture and Media
Biographical suitability: Weimer is from southern Hesse, the son of a religious education teacher, and attended school for a time in Portugal. He earned a Master of Arts from Goethe University. He quickly rose through the ranks as a journalist. After stints at dpa and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, among others, he became editor-in-chief of Die Welt and the Berliner Morgenpost. Weimer later founded the magazine Cicero and served as editor-in-chief of Focus. In 2012, he and his wife Christiane Goetz-Weimer started their own media business (Weimer Media Group). He has HR experience from large corporations (Springer, Burda) and his own, much smaller company. He will need this experience when dealing with the cultural sector.
Communication skills: The new Minister of State is more soft-spoken than spoken. Weimer is clear in his statements, but not a loudmouth. He's a good storyteller who loves to laugh.
Professional competence: When it comes to the media side of the office, there's no question – Weimer is a consummate media professional. Among his acquaintances, he's considered a sophisticated thinker with a penchant for the arts section. However, the conservative Weimer wouldn't impress the left-wing intellectuals in the cultural sector, even if he were a professor of art history.
Budget responsibility: Weimer knows his way around money; for example, he was responsible for a large budget at Springer. As an entrepreneur, he has been earning his own money for several years, and quite a bit, as we hear.
Outstanding projects: With the Ludwig Erhard Summit, he created the German equivalent of the WEF in Davos – virtually from scratch. No other minister can boast such private-sector success.
International experience: Existing. In addition to attending school in Porto, Weimer was, for example, a foreign correspondent for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) in Madrid. He is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
School grade : 2+
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