Danish-German politician
Stefan Seidler is a Danish-German politician of the South Schleswig Voters' Association (SSW), the party representing the interests of the Danish and Frisian minority populations in Germany. He was elected to the Bundestag from Schleswig-Holstein in the 2021 German federal election. His election represented the first time the SSW won a seat since 1949. The SSW last contested a federal election in the 1961 West German election.[1]
Early life and education
Seidler was born in 1979 in Flensburg, West Germany, as the son of a Danish-born teacher and a timber salesman from Flensburg.[2] After completing his secondary education at Duborg-Skolen, he studied at Aarhus University in Aarhus, Denmark, where he obtained a master's degree in political science[3] and a diploma in political communication.[4] He is a member of the Danish Association of Lawyers and Economists.[3]
Political career
Seidler has been politically active in both Denmark and Germany. In Aarhus, he was deputy chairman of Radikal Ungdom, the youth wing of the Danish Social Liberal Party, and later was that party's candidate for both the Danish Parliament and the European Parliament.[5] He was a member of Flensburg's city council, worked as a political consultant in Southern Denmark, and in 2014, became Schleswig-Holstein's coordinator of relations with the Danish government.[3]
In 2021, he contested the constituency of Flensburg – Schleswig, located at the German-Danish border, for the SSW. He was defeated by Robert Habeck from Alliance 90/The Greens, but won a seat on the party's state list.[6]
Personal life
Seidler is married and has two daughters.[3]
References
