Christine Bergmann

Christine Bergmann (born 7 September 1939) is a German politician (SPD).

She grew up in East Germany, embarking on a public political career only at the time of German reunification. During the final months of the German Democratic Republic she served as president of the . Moving from city politics to national politics, between 1998 and 2002 she served under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder as Minister for Family, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth. More recently, in 2016 she was appointed a member of the Independent Commission for Dealing with Sexual Abuse of Children ("Unabhängige Kommission zur Aufarbeitung sexuellen Kindesmissbrauchs"), having served as the full-time commissioner during 2010/2011.

Early life and education Christine Bergmann, a twin, was born in Dresden. The three siblings with whom she grew up were all brothers. She passed her school final exams ("Abitur") in 1957 and enrolled at Leipzig University (then known as "Karl Marx University") in Leipzig to study Pharmacy.

Political career In December 1989, following a series of developments which had opened the way for German reunification, Bergmann joined the newly reconstituted Social Democratic Party (SDP) (in East Germany), which would merge with its West German counterpart (the SPD) in September 1990.

From May 1990 till January 1991, Bergmann was president of the Berlin city council. the city was governed by a grand coalition between the centre-right CDU (party) and the moderate-left SPD. During the campaign, she served as shadow minister of education and research.

In 1998 Bergmann switched to national politics, accepting an appointment in the Schröder government as Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, in succession to Claudia Nolte. She had already shadowed the portfolio in opposition under the SPD party leadership of Rudolf Scharping.

Bergmann retired from the government in 2002, but returned to politics in 2004, working with Kurt Biedenkopf as an ombudswoman, observing the impact of the "Hartz" labour market reforms, with a mandate to advise government and parliament on any recommended revisions to it.

Additional affiliations and memberships Christine Bergmann is a member of the honorary council of , an organisation headquartered in Jerusalem which provides practical Psycho-social support for holocaust survivors and their descendants. In March 2010, she was appointed by the government as the ("Unabhängiger Beauftragter für Fragen des sexuellen Kindesmissbrauchs").

Since June 2011, Bergmann has been a member of the ("Stiftung Zukunft Berlin"). Since January 2016, she has been a member of the Independent Commission for Dealing with Sexual Abuse of Children ("Unabhängige Kommission zur Aufarbeitung sexuellen Kindesmissbrauchs").

Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster, Member of the Board of Trustees Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Member of the Board of Trustees

Awards and honours 2007: Order of Merit of Berlin 2011: Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1st class 2012: