Heike Baehrens

Heike Baehrens (born 21 September 1955) is a German deaconess, religious educator and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as a member of the German Bundestag from 2013 to 2025.

Early life and career After training as a bank clerk, Baehrens studied religious education. She worked as a deaconess in various church fields from 1977 to 1985. From 1996 to 2013 she has been managing director of the Diakonisches Werk Württemberg, and from 2002 to 2013 a member of the full-time board of directors of social policy fields and deputy chairman of the board. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, she joined forces with six other parliamentarians – Dirk Wiese, Dagmar Schmidt, Janosch Dahmen, Till Steffen, Katrin Helling-Plahr and Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann – on a cross-party initiative in 2022 to support legislation that would have required all adults to be vaccinated.

In April 2024, Baehrens announced that she would not stand in the 2025 federal elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.

Other activities German Network against Neglected Tropical Diseases (DNTDs), Member of the Parliamentary Advisory Board (2018–2025) Berliner Republik, Member of the Editorial Board Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Member of the Committee on the Social Order VfB Stuttgart, Member

Personal life Baehrens is married since 1977 and has two adult daughters and three grandchildren.