Margarete Bause

Margarete Bause (born 19 January 1959) is a German politician of Alliance 90/The Greens. She was a member of the Landtag of Bavaria from 1986 to 1990 and from 2003 to 2017 before serving as a member of the Bundestag from 2017 until 2021, where she was her parliamentary group's spokeswoman for human rights and humanitarian aid.

Early life and education Margarete Bause was born in Wertheim. After passing the Abitur in Landsberg, she studied German studies, political science and sociology at LMU Munich.

Political career

Bause became a member of the Green party in 1986 and was one of their state chairs in Bavaria from 1991 to 1993 and 1998 to 2003.

For the 2021 German federal election, Bause lost the internal election for direct candidacy to Vaniessa Rashid in a contest vote for the Munich East constituency. Her place of 22 on the state list was not enough for her to return to the Bundestag.

Other activities Corporate boards Umweltbank, Member of the Advisory Board

Non-profit organizations Transparency Germany, Member of the Board (since 2012) Munich School of Philosophy, Member of the Board of Trustees Wings of Hope Deutschland, Member of the Board of Trustees Bayerisches Amerikahaus, Member of the Advisory Board (2014-2017) Bayerischer Rundfunk, Member of the Broadcasting Council (1990-1998)

Political positions Bause is active in the area of human rights in China and supportive of the Uyghurs; her constituency, Munich, is home to the majority of Uighurs living in Germany as well as to the headquarters of the World Uyghur Congress.

In 2014, Bause made headlines when — on a visit to China with a delegation from the Bavarian state parliament — she secretly met with dissident artist Ai Weiwei and later released photos of the meeting.

In August 2019, after asking the German government to support sending UN observers to Xinjiang province, Bause was denied entry to China. The remaining members of the German Bundestag delegation subsequently cancelled their planned China trip.