Karin Prien has been appointed Germany’s federal minister for education, family, women and youth, making her the first Jewish woman to serve in the country’s cabinet since the Holocaust.
A senior figure in the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Prien is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and serves as a spokeswoman for her party’s Jewish Forum. Her appointment was announced by incoming Chancellor Friedrich Merz, with the new cabinet set to take office on 6 May.
Prien, 59, has served as Schleswig-Holstein’s education minister since 2017 and co-chairs the CDU’s national board. Born in Amsterdam, she moved to Germany as a child and became a citizen at age 26, a decision her mother, wary of resettling in a country that murdered their relatives, did not support.
In recent years, Prien has spoken increasingly about her Jewish heritage and rising antisemitism. Following Hamas’s 7 October massacre, she posted a photo wearing her mother’s Star of David necklace over her dress, writing, “For decades, you only wore it hidden beneath your clothing. You were afraid to admit you were Jewish in Germany. I thought that was an exaggeration, and I was wrong. You were right.”
In 2021, she defended singer Gil Ofarim over an alleged antisemitic incident in Leipzig, later apologising after it emerged he had fabricated the story. Prien has described calling Israel an apartheid state as antisemitic and last year signed a petition against academic boycotts of the Jewish state.
She enters federal office amid growing concern over antisemitism in Germany and rising support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a party she has said should be met with “civilised disdain”.
