Dorothee Bär

Dorothee Bär, grew up in Ebelsbach, Landkreis Haßberge where she still lives.[http://www.dorothee-baer.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=33 Personal background information from her official website]

She finished high school in Grayslake, Illinois in 1996 and Franz-Ludwig-Gymnasium in Bamberg in 1999.

Supported by a scholarship of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, Bär studied political science in several universities throughout Germany and received her diploma in 2005 from Otto-Suhr-Institut of the Free University of Berlin. After her graduation, she worked as a journalist for several radio stations and newspapers.

Bär started her political career in 1996 by joining the Young Union (JU), the youth organization of the CSU. In 1994 she became a member of the CSU. In 1999, she became a member of the Board of Directors of the Junge Union for the region of Lower Franconia. From 2001 to 2003, she served as the Chairperson of the Association of Christian Democratic Students (RCDS) of Bavaria.

Since the 2002 national elections, Bär has been a member of the German Parliament representing the Bad Kissingen electoral district (#248) which comprises three counties: Bad Kissingen, Rhön-Grabfeld, and Haßberge. Between 2005 and 2009, Bär was a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Within her parliamentary group, she served as deputy spokesperson for foreign policy between 2008 and 2009, succeeding Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg.Georg Paul Hefty (11 November 2008), [https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/dorothee-baer-die-naechste-generation-der-csu-1726544.html Dorothee Bär: Die nächste Generation der CSU] Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

In November 2008 Bär was elected as the Deputy National Chairperson of the Young Union, under the leadership of chairman Philipp Mißfelder. In February 2009, she became the Deputy Secretary General of the CSU, serving alongside Secretary General Alexander Dobrindt under party chairman Horst Seehofer.

In the negotiations to form a coalition government following the 2009 federal elections, Bär was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on families, integration of immigrants and culture, led by Maria Böhmer and Hans-Joachim Otto. Between 2009 and 2013, she then served on the Committee on Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth as well as on the Committee on Cultural and Media Affairs.

In addition to her committee assignments, Bär was a member of the German-Korean Parliamentary Friendship Group and of the German-Swiss Parliamentary Friendship Group.[https://www.parlament.ch/de/organe/delegationen/delegationen-fuer-beziehungen-mit-parlamenten-anderer-staaten/deutscher-bundestag/deutsch-schweizerische-parlamentariergruppe-des-bundestags German-Swiss Parliamentary Friendship Group] Federal Assembly.

In the coalition talks following the 2013 federal elections, Bär led the working group on digital policy; her co-chair was Brigitte Zypries of the SPD. In the third government under Chancellor Angela Merkel, she served as Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure under the leadership of Minister Alexander Dobrindt. In this capacity, she was also the government’s Coordinator for Freight Transport and Logistics.[https://www.bmvi.de/SharedDocs/DE/Pressemitteilungen/2014/003-baer-logistik-koordination.html Dorothee Bär ist neue Koordinatorin für Güterverkehr und Logistik] Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, press release of 29 January 2014.

In the negotiations to form a fourth cabinet under Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, Bär again led the working group on digital policy, this time alongside Helge Braun and Lars Klingbeil. Following the formation of the new government, she was appointed to the newly established post of State Minister for Digitization at the Federal Chancellery.Dana Heide and Dietmar Neuerer (5 March 2018), [https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/staatsministerin-fuer-digitalisierung-dorothee-baer-ist-fuer-seehofer-die-beste-loesung-fuers-digitale/21033242.html Dorothee Bär ist für Seehofer die beste Lösung fürs Digitale] Handelsblatt. Together with investor Frank Thelen she also co-chaired the German Innovation Council at the Federal Chancellery.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/aktuelles/innovation-council-konstituiert-sich-im-bundeskanzleramt-1121170|title=Innovation Council konstituiert sich im Bundeskanzleramt|website=Startseite|date=17 May 2018 |language=de|access-date=20 May 2019}}

Ahead of the 2021 elections, CDU chairman Armin Laschet included Bär in his eight-member shadow cabinet for the Christian Democrats’ campaign; she was the only CSU politician selected for this role.Fatina Keilani and Christoph Prantner (September 3, 2021), [https://www.nzz.ch/international/im-umfragetief-laschet-stellt-zukunftsteam-vor-ld.1643675 Personen statt Positionen: Laschet bringt sein «Zukunftsteam» in Stellung] Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

From 2021 to 2025, Bär served as one her parliamentary group's deputy chairs, under the leadership of successive chairs Ralph Brinkhaus (2021–2022) and Friedrich Merz (2022–2025). In this capacity, she oversaw the group’s legislative activities on families and cultural affairs.[https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/spahn-ist-jetzt-stellvertreter-des-fraktionsvorsitzenden-17683184.html Neuaufstellung der Union: Spahn ist jetzt Stellvertreter des Fraktionsvorsitzenden] Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 13 December 2021.

In the negotiations to form a Grand Coalition of the Christian Democrats and the SPD following the 2025 German elections, Bär was part of the CDU/CSU steering group under the leadership of Friedrich Merz.

Since May 2025, Bär has been serving as the Federal Minister of Research, Technology and Space in the government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

• Federal Agency for Civic Education (BpB), Member of the Board of Trustees (2005–2009)

• FC Bayern München, Member of the Advisory Board (since 2019)Margot Lamparter (8 March 2019), [https://www.br.de/nachrichten/sport/dorothe-baer-neues-mitglied-im-im-verwaltungsrat-des-fc-bayern,RK7K8aN Dorothee Bär neues Mitglied im Verwaltungsbeirat des FC Bayern] Bayerischer Rundfunk.
• ÖPP Deutschland AG, Ex-officio Member of the Supervisory Board (2013-2017)
• CNC Communications & Network Consulting, Member of the Board of Experts (2009-2013)
• Quadriga University of Applied Sciences Berlin, (2009-2013)
• Rhön-Klinikum, Member of the Advisory Board (2009-2013)
• RTL Television, Member of the Program Committee (2009-2013)

• University of Würzburg, Member of the Board of Trustees
• International Journalists’ Programmes (IJP), Member of the Board of Trustees[http://www.ijp.org/en/organisation/deutsches-kuratorium/ Board of Trustees (2019-2022)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003175637/http://www.ijp.org/en/organisation/deutsches-kuratorium/ |date=3 October 2016 }} International Journalists’ Programmes (IJP).
• German Academy for Literature for Children and Young Adults, Member of the Advisory Board
• Kissinger Sommer, Member of the Board of Trustees
• cnetz, Member of the Advisory Board
• Total E-Quality initiative, Member of the Board of Trustees
• Wasserwacht of the Bavarian Red Cross, Chairwoman
• Atlantik-Brücke, Member
• 2017 German Computer Games Award, Member of the Jury
• AFS Intercultural Programs - Germany, Member of the Board of Trustees (–2024)
• German Federal Film Board (FFA), Member of the Supervisory Board (2005–2013, 2021–2022)

Ahead of the 2021 national elections, Bär endorsed Markus Söder as the Christian Democrats' joint candidate to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel.[https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/soeder-gets-popularity-boost-german-chancellery-run-latest-poll-2021-04-16/ Second CDU premier drops support for Laschet's German chancellery run] Reuters, April 16, 2021.

File:Roland Berger, Oliver Bär, und Dorothee Bär, Juli 2012.jpg

Bär is married to lawyer and fellow CSU politician Oliver Bär. The couple has two daughters and a son.[http://www.bundestag.de/bundestag/abgeordnete/bio/B/baer_do0.html Bundestag] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930010334/http://www.bundestag.de/bundestag/abgeordnete/bio/B/baer_do0.html |date=30 September 2009 }}

• List of Bavarian Christian Social Union politicians

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• [http://www.dorothee-baer.de Official Website of M.P. Dorothee Bär] {{in lang|de}}
• [https://www.bundestag.de/abgeordnete/biografien/B/baer_dorothee/518098 M.P. Dorothee Bär in the Official Website of the German Parliament] {{in lang|de}} - {{in lang|en}} - {{in lang|fr}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101003230046/http://www.theo-magazin.de/index.php/dorothee_baer.html M.P. Dorothee Bär in the Theo Catholic Magazine] {{in lang|de}}
• [https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/csu-dorothee-baer-die-politmanagerin/3213008.html M.P. Dorothee Bär in Handelsblatt] {{in lang|de}}

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Category:1978 births

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