Petra Roth

Petra Roth (born 9 May 1944 in Bremen) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). She was the Mayor of Frankfurt from 1995 to 2012. In addition she twice served as president of the Deutscher Städtetag, resuming her previous post there in 2009. The group is the head organization and lobby group for all German cities vis-à-vis the Cabinet of Germany, the German Bundestag, the Bundesrat of Germany, the European Union (EU) and many organizations.[1][2]

Roth in 2012

Life

Roth is descended from a Bremen-based family of merchants. After she left the Kippenberg-Gymnasium, which has a special concentration in music, with a General Certificate of Secondary Education, she completed an apprenticeship as a medical secretary. Later she passed her exam at an upper business school. Love led her from Bremen to Frankfurt am Main. She is described as interested in the arts. She has two sons and has been widowed since 1994.

Political career

Early beginnings

Petra Roth joined the Christian Democratic Union in 1972 after she had moved to Frankfurt. Later she was elected to the local city council and between 1987 and 1995, to the Landtag of Hesse. Between 1992 and 1995 she was chair of the CDU in Frankfurt.

Mayor of Frankfurt, 1995−2012

On 25 June 1995, Roth was elected mayor of Frankfurt, defeating the incumbent Andreas von Schoeler and becoming the city's first directly elected woman mayor.

In 2001, she won the second round in a tight race against Achim Vandreike (SPD). Meanwhile, Roth is longest-serving Frankfurt mayor since World War II.

She was also a passenger on a flight that was diverted to the Newfoundland town of Gander during the week following the September 11 attacks.

On 28 January 2007, Roth was re-elected in the first round with 60.5% of the votes but with voter participation of only 33.6%. Her rival candidate Franz Frey (SPD) got 27.5% of the votes.

Roth was briefly considered as a potential successor to Federal President Johannes Rau. In March 2008 she was considered a potential candidate for Minister-President of the State of Hesse.[3]

From 1997 to 1999 and from 2003 to 2005, Roth served as president of Deutscher Städtetag, a position she took up again in 2009. She was also member of the Committee of the Regions of European Union.[4]

During her time in office, Roth was a member of the board of Frankfurt International Airport Fraport, chairman of the supervisory boards of the Frankfurt trade fair Messe Frankfurt, of the municipal utility company Stadtwerke Frankfurt am Main, of the regional transport services company Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund, and the regional housing society ABG Frankfurt Holding.[5][6]

Political positions

Within the CDU, Roth is considered a proponent of religious tolerance and a moderate stance regarding topics such as building of mosques in Germany, migration and integration, as well as drug treatment policy.[7][8]

Ahead of the Christian Democrats’ leadership election in 2018, Roth publicly endorsed Friedrich Merz to succeed Angela Merkel as the party’s chair.[9]

Other activities

Corporate boards

Non-profits

Recognition

Honorary degrees

Awards

References
  1. Die Oberbürgermeisterin Archived 22 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine (German) Source: frankfurt.de
  2. German municipalities struggle with record deficits (English) Source: dw-world.de
  3. Petra Roth als Ministerpräsidentin im Gespräch (German) Source: focus.de
  4. Neue deutsche Delegation im Ausschuss der Regionen Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine (German) Source: cor.europa.eu
  5. Members of Supervisory board of Frankfurt fair Messe Frankfurt Archived 2010-02-25 at the Wayback Machine (English) Source: messefrankfurt.com
  6. Members of Supervisory Board (German) Source: stadtwerke-frankfurt.de
  7. OB Petra Roth sagt Ja zur Moschee (German) Source: fr-online.de
  8. Ich vertraue den Grünen (German) Source: taz.de
  9. Christian Rothenberg (5 December 2018), So groß sind die Lager der Unterstützer für Merz, Spahn und Kramp-Karrenbauer Handelsblatt.
  10. Petra Roth rückt in den Axa-Aufsichtsrat auf Handelsblatt, 4 June 2012.
  11. Tobias Romberg (19 May 2011), Ritter der Schwafelrunde Die Zeit.
  12. Advisory Board Deutsche Vermögensberatung (DVAG).
  13. Supervisory Board Thüga.
  14. 2012 Annual Report Archived 4 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine Helaba.
  15. Advisory Council German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ).
  16. Board of Trustees Archived 4 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine Commerzbank Foundation.
  17. Board of Trustees Hertie-Stiftung.
  18. Board of Trustees Jewish Museum Frankfurt.
  19. Kuratorium und Fachbeirat haben sich konstituiert Max Planck Institute for European Legal History, press release of 11 April 2011.
  20. Board of Trustees Senckenberg Nature Research Society.
  21. Board of Trustees Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt.
  22. Board of Trustees BHF Bank Foundation.
  23. Carsten Germis (September 9, 2010), Frankfurts Stadtoberhaupt in Asien: „Wow, die ist echt knallhart“ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
  24. Julius-Campe-Preis 2018 für Christian Petzold Hoffmann & Campe, press release of October 12, 2018.
  25. Claus-Jürgen Göpfert (June 9, 2017), Petra Roth wird Ehrenbürgerin Frankfurter Rundschau.
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