Curriculum vitae
born on 25 February 1961 in Uedem, Kleve county, Germany , Protestant, married, 4 children
Education and professional experience
| 1980-1987 | Law school at the University of Cologne |
| 1987 | First State Examination |
| 1987-1993 | Research assistant at the department of Political Philosophy and Legal Policy at the University of Cologne |
| 1991-1993 | Trainee lawyer at the District Court Cologne |
| 1993 | Second State Examination |
| since 1997 | Licensed lawyer |
Party
| since 1977 | Member of the CDU |
| 1983-1989 | County chairman of the Junge Union Neuss |
| 1989-1994 | Chairman of the national Junge Union Germany |
| 1984-1989 | Member of the County Council Neuss |
| 1993-1994 | Member of the County Council Neuss |
| 1991-1993 | Member of the CDU programme commission |
| since 1994 | Member of the Deutscher Bundestag |
| 1994-1998 | Spokesman of the "Young group" in the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group |
| 1998-2005 | Spokesman on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid of the CDU/CSU-Parliamentary Group |
| 2001-2009 | Chairman of the CDU Rhein-Kreis Neuss |
| 2005-2008 | Legal Advisor of the CDU/CSU-Parliamentary Group, Spokesman of the CDU/CSU-Parliamentary Group on the first fact-finding committee, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs |
| 2008-2009 | Minister of State at the Federal Chancellery, responsible for the coordination between states and federal government, deregulation and parliamentary relations |
| since 10/2009 | Secretary General of the CDU |
Social commitment
| 1997-2009 | Member of the Council of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) |
| since 1997 |
Member of the National Synod of the EKD |
| 2000-2008 | Chairman of the “Diakonisches Werk” in Neuss, the relief organization of the EKD in Neuss |
| 2000-2009 | Co-editor of the nationwide Protestant magazine “Chrismon” |
| since 2001 | Member of the executive board of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation |
