Matthias Wissmann

Wissmann was born in Ludwigsburg on 15 April 1949. He studied law at the university of Bonn. He became a member of K.D.St.V. Alania Bonn, a catholic student fraternity that is member of the Cartellverband.

Since 1965, Wissmann has been active in politics. He became a member of the political youth organisation Junge Union and in 1968 of the CDU. From 1973 to 1983 he was federal leader of the Junge Union.

In 1976, Wissmann was elected to the German Bundestag for the Christlich-Demokratische Union. In 1981, he was chairman of the commission Jugendprotest im demokratischen Staat (youth protest in the democratic state) until 1983. In the years 1983 until 1993 he was the spokesman of his parliamentary group for economic affairs, under the leadership of successive chairmen Alfred Dregger and Wolfgang Schäuble.

On 21 January 1993, Wissmann became Federal Minister of Research and Technology in the government of Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Only four-month later, after the resignation of Günther Krause, he became Federal Minister of Transport on 13 May 1993.

During his time in office, Wissmann – together with the Governing Mayor of Berlin Eberhard Diepgen and the Minister-President of Brandenburg Manfred Stolpe – committed to Schönefeld as the site for the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport on 28 May 1996. This so-called consensus decision was later affirmed by the respective state legislatures.{{cite news| url=http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/verkehr/dokumentation-konsensbeschluss-zur-tempelhof-schliessung/876062.html| work=Der Tagesspiegel| title=Konsensbeschluss zur Tempelhof-Schließung| language=de| date=18 June 2007| access-date=28 July 2014| trans-title=Consensus decision for the closure of Tempelhof}}

Wissmann left the government after his party lost the federal elections on 27 September 1998.

During Wolfgang Schäuble's tenure as party chairman from 1998 to 2000, Wissmann served as federal treasurer of the CDU.Roger Cohen (16 February 2000), [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/16/world/speaker-fines-kohl-s-party-21-million-over-illegal-payments.html Speaker Fines Kohl's Party $21 Million Over Illegal Payments] New York Times. By April 2000, following the CDU donations scandal, he had to report an annual deficit of more than $8 million and oversaw efforts to cut personnel, rent out part of the party's new Berlin headquarters, and shrink its publications.Roger Cohen (11 April 2000), [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/11/world/woman-sets-out-to-lead-kohl-s-party-out-of-its-crisis.html Woman Sets Out to Lead Kohl's Party Out of Its Crisis] New York Times.

From 1998 to 2002 Wissmann also was the chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Economic Affairs and Technology. From 2002 he served as chairman of the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union.

During his time in parliament, Wissmann also became partner at the international law firm WilmerHale. At the firm, he was a member of the corporate group, where he focused on transactions having a transatlantic dimension, and headed the Legal Strategy and Public Policy practice group in Berlin.[https://www.wilmerhale.com/pages/publicationsandnewsdetail.aspx?NewsPubId=102791 WilmerHale Partner Matthias Wissmann Elected as President of the Association of the German Automotive Industry] WilmerHale, press release of 26 March 2007.

Wissmann laid down his parliamentary mandate by 31 May 2007 to become the president of the German Automobile Industry Association (VDA) from 1 June 2007. He held this office until February 2018. During his time in office, he also served as vice-president of Pro Mobilität, an industry group lobbying for improvements in Germany's street network.[http://www.promobilitaet.de/verband/praesidium2/praesidium-pro-mobilitaet Presidium] Pro Mobilität.

In 2014, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Sigmar Gabriel appointed Wissmann to the government's advisory board on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).[http://www.bmwi.de/BMWi/Redaktion/PDF/B/beiratsmitglieder-ttip,property=pdf,bereich=bmwi2012,sprache=de,rwb=true.pdf Advisory Board on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)] Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

In October 2016, Wissmann was unanimously elected as president of the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles (OICA) for a two-year mandate, succeeding Yong-geun Kim.[http://www.oica.net/wp-content/uploads//Press-Release-Moscow-2016.pdf VDA-President Matthias Wissmann unanimously elected President of the world organisation OICA] Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles (OICA), press release of 24 October 2016. Since 2017, he has also been Vice President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI).[https://english.bdi.eu/bdi/organisation/presidential-board/ Presidential Board] Federation of German Industries (BDI).

• ODDO BHF, Member of the supervisory board (from 2019)Michael Maisch (11 October 2018), [https://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/anlagestrategie/trends/ex-auto-lobbyist-der-ehemalige-vda-praesident-wissmann-heuert-bei-der-oddo-bhf-bank-an/23174106.html?ticket=ST-433966-GbASves73VOn3B2sbTEx-ap4 Der ehemalige VDA-Präsident Wissmann heuert bei der Oddo BHF Bank an] Handelsblatt.
• Freitag & Co., Member of the advisory board (since 2016)[http://freitagco.com/ Advisory Board] Freitag & Co.
• Lufthansa, Member of the supervisory board (2008-2020)Tanja Kewes (10 March 2008), [https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/handel-konsumgueter/verjuengungskur-lufthansa-baut-aufsichtsrat-um/2932252.html Verjüngungskur Lufthansa baut Aufsichtsrat um] Handelsblatt.[http://reports.lufthansa.com/2008/ar/furtherinformation/boards/supervisoryboard.html 2008 Annual Report: Supervisory Board] LufthansaJens Koenen (24 April 2020), [https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/handel-konsumgueter/luftfahrt-lufthansa-holt-sich-neue-prominente-aufsichtsraete-und-will-sich-so-neu-aufstellen/25769978.html Lufthansa holt sich neue prominente Aufsichtsräte – und will sich so neu aufstellen] Handelsblatt.
• Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), Member of the advisory board (-2010)[https://www.lbbw.de/media/de/investor_relations/pdf_investorrelations/2010/LBBW_Geschaeftsbericht_2010.pdf 2010 Annual Report] Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW).
• Seeburger AG, Member of the Supervisory Board
• EnBW, Member of the advisory board (2004-2009)[https://www.enbw.com/media/downloadcenter-konzern/jahresabschluss-der-enbw-ag/jahresabschluss-der-enbw-ag-2009.pdf 2009 Annual Report] EnBW.

• Federation of German Industries (BDI), Ex-Officio Member of the Presidium[http://bdi.eu/der-bdi/organisation/praesidium/ Presidium] Federation of German Industries (BDI).
• Ludwigsburg Festival, Member of the Board of Trustees[https://www.schlossfestspiele.de/de/foerderer/kuratorium/index.htm Board of Trustees] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630092155/http://www.schlossfestspiele.de/de/foerderer/kuratorium/index.htm |date=30 June 2013 }} Ludwigsburg Festival.
• Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft, Member of the Board of Trustees[https://www.stifterverband.org/kuratorium Board of Trustees] Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft.
• Trilateral Commission, Member of the European Group[http://trilateral.org/download/files/TC_list_11_15.pdf Members] Trilateral Commission

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.matthias-wissmann.de Homepage of Matthias Wissmann]

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Category:1949 births

Category:Living people

Category:Transport ministers of Germany

Category:People from Ludwigsburg

Category:Members of the Bundestag for Baden-Württemberg

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