Birgit Klaubert

Birgit Klaubert (born 28 September 1954) is a German politician (Die Linke) and former vice president of the Thuringian regional parliament ("Landtag"). From 2014 to 2017 Klaubert served as Thuringia's Minister for Education, Youth and Sport.

Life Provenance and early years Birgit Klaubert was born in Schöneck, a small town in the mountains to the east of Plauen in East Germany, and close to the country's frontier with the westernmost extent of Czechoslovakia. She attended school locally in Klingenthal, where passing her school final exams ("Abitur") opened the way to university level education. Between 1973 and 1977 she studied and qualified for a degree as a teacher of History and German at the Karl Marx University of Leipzig (as it was known at that time). After this she returned to teaching work at the teacher training institute in Altenburg, where she remained till 1994 when her political involvement translated into a full-time job and a seat in the Thuringian regional parliament ("Landtag").

Following reunification she became more politically involved. The old SED which had ruled in East Germany relaunched itself as the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), and set about adapting itself for a democratic future. Following further political realignments the party merged into a new party, called simply The Left ("Die Linke") in 2007. Throughout this period, initially at a municipal level and later on the regional stage, Birgit Klaubert remained active as a member of the party through its ups and downs.

In 2013 the regional party executive proposed Klaubert as the party's lead candidate for Thuringia in the forthcoming general election. The nomination was supported by the local party committees, and on 2 March 2013 at meeting held at Friedrichroda party delegates voted on the matter. However, when the votes were counted Klaubert was found to have received only 59 of the 120 delegates' votes. Faced with this underwhelming endorsement she withdrew her candidacy. Commentators speculated that the unexpected outcome of the vote reflected general disenchantment with the local party executive rather than hitherto unidentified issues over Klaubert's own candidacy. After being appointed regional Minister for Education, Youth and Sport in the Ramelow Cabinet she took the opportunity - like Bodo Ramelow himself - to resign her seat in the Landtag. She was succeeded by Helmut Holter in August 2017.

Beyond politics Birgit Klaubert is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Regional Centre for Political Education and a member of the REgional Memorials Council. She is also an honorary (unpaid) member of the Supervisory Board of the Altenburg-Gera theatre company.