Helge Braun


Helge Reinhold Braun is a German medical doctor and politician of the Christian Democratic Union.
Since 2018, Braun has been serving Head of the Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Affairs in the fourth coalition government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. He was the Parliamentary Secretary of State for Bureaucracy Reduction and Federal-State Relations at the Chancellery between 2013 and 2018.

Early life and education

After passing the Abitur in 1992 at the Liebigschule in Giessen, Braun studied Medicine at the Justus-Liebig University in Giessen. From 2001 until 2009 he was a scientific assistant at the Clinic for Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care and Analgesic Therapy of the University Hospital of Giessen and Marburg. He speaks German and English.

Political career

From 1989 until 2007 Braun was a member of the Young Union. He was the district leader of the JU Giessen from 1992 till 1997 and from 1998 until 2001 he was the regional leader of the JU Mittelhessen.
He has been a member of the Christian Democratic Union since 1990.

Member of Parliament

Braun first served as a member of the Bundestag from October 2002 to September 2005. From 2003 until 2005 he was the deputy leader of the Hessian Members of the Bundestag. He also served on the Committee on Education and Research, the Committee on Environment, Nuclear Safety and Nature Conservation and on the Parliamentary Advisory Board for Sustainable Development.
Braun lost his seat in the 2005 federal elections. He was able to re-enter the Bundestag in 2009, winning the constituency of his home town of Gießen with a majority of 59,441 votes or 36.7%. After the election, he was again elected as deputy leader of the Hessian MPs. In the subsequent federal elections of 2013 and 2017 he was able to defend his seat.
In Merkel's second coalition government, Braun was Parliamentary Secretary of State for Education and Research, serving alongside Thomas Rachel under successive ministers Annette Schavan and Johanna Wanka. During his time in office, he notably stepped up Germany’s activities on research into neglected tropical diseases.
In the negotiations to form a Grand Coalition of Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats following the 2013 federal elections, Braun was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on education and research policy, led by Johanna Wanka and Doris Ahnen. Merkel subsequently appointed him as Parliamentary Secretary of State for Bureaucracy Reduction and Federal-State Relations, serving directly under her in the Federal Chancellery. In that capacity, he was one of the officials co-ordinating Germany’s response to the European migrant crisis in 2015.
After the 2017 elections and the successful coalition talks between the CDU/CSU and SPD in February 2018, Braun became the designated Head of the Chancellery and Federal Minister of Special Affairs in the fourth Merkel government. On 14 March 2018, he succeeded Peter Altmaier.

Other activities

Braun is a Roman Catholic and is married.