German gov't appoints Holocaust survivors' granddaughter as first Jewish minister in 100 years

Karin Prien is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and will be the first Jewish Woman to serve at this level and the first Jew since 1922.

MAY 3, 2025 04:40

Updated: MAY 3, 2025 08:51

Designated German Family Minister Karin Prien poses for a picture, on the day of a CDU party conference to formally sign off on a coalition agreement reached with the Social Democrats, in Berlin, Germany April 28, 2025. (photo credit: REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen) — Designated German Family Minister Karin Prien poses for a picture, on the day of a CDU party conference to formally sign off on a coalition agreement reached with the Social Democrats, in Berlin, Germany April 28, 2025.

(photo credit: REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen)

Incoming Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced the appointment of Karin Prien as Federal Minister for Education, Family, Elderly, Women, and Youth on Monday, making her the first Jewish minister to be appointed to a Federal German government since 1922.

Prien is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and was born and raised in Amsterdam, but graduated from high school in Germany and later received German citizenship.

She has been a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since the early 1980s. According to the Berlin Morgenpost, she will also be the first CDU minister from Schleswig-Holstein in over 30 years, German public radio reported. Prien served in a similar role in the Schleswig-Holstein cabinet from 2017.

Prien will serve in the newly created ministry after Merz decided to separate education from research and technology, in an attempt to boost Germany's research development prospects, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Prien is also the spokeswoman for the CDU's Jewish Forum and has increasingly spoken about her Jewish heritage and rising antisemitism in Germany, in particular since October 7.

German conservative candidate for chancellor and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party leader Friedrich Merz attends a press conference following the German general election in Berlin, Germany, February 24, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen/File Photo)

Who are the previous Jewish German ministers?

Prior to Prien, Germany only had one undoubtedly Jewish minister, Walther Rathenau, who served as Foreign Minister from February to June 1922.

Rathenau was assassinated by three members of the antisemitic ultranationalist terrorist organization, Organization Consul. The only assassin to survive the subsequent police shootout, Ernst Werner Techow, was reportedly executed by the Soviet Red Army following the German surrender.

Gerhard Jahn, who served as Federal Justice Minister in Germany from 1969-1974, is sometimes considered the first Jewish minister in post-Nazi Germany, although this is sometimes disputed.

Jahn's mother was Jewish and was murdered in Auschwitz, however his non-Jewish father converted his children to Protestantism during the rise of Nazi regime.

Jahn founded the German-Israeli Society, which promotes good relations between Israel and Germany.