New head of the bpb: A headmistress at the head of the federal headquarters

Recently there were heated discussions about the leadership position of the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb). After the previous head, Sönke Rix, resigned after just six months, the authority talked about wanting to realign itself. They said they wanted to make more left-wing extremism and Islamism an issue again. This is also why it is surprising who the coalition is said to have now agreed on.

The SPD, which has the right to make proposals, wants to place its former Bundestag member Nina Hauer there. Hauer sat in the Bundestag from 1998 to 2009. And that despite the fact that the taz had declared her political career over much earlier. Because Hauer was part of the Juso campaign that became known as the Lobo affair.

What had happened? Hauer joined the SPD as a schoolgirl in 1987. She soon became involved in the SPD's youth organization (Jusos) and was also chairwoman of the Hesse-South district association for a time. As such, the Young Socialist announced drastic measures in 1994 to protest against the Hessian deportation practice. Your association called for no more Kurds to be deported to Turkey. The Jusos threatened: Otherwise a dog named Lobo would be poisoned and its carcass would be thrown in front of the state parliament.

It didn't get that far: "Mongrel mutt Lobo lives - party career ruined," was the headline in the taz shortly afterwards. The colleague was probably wrong about the latter. Hauer resigned as Juso chairwoman of her association, but there can be no question of a ruined career.

Just a few years later, Hauer, now a teacher and 31 years old, was directly elected to the Bundestag. It is the first election that the SPD wins so clearly against the CDU. For the first time, it was enough for a red-green government under SPD Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.

Before that, the SPD had been in opposition for 16 years. In an interview in 1998, the taz wanted to know what it felt like to be part of a government faction. “I can’t imagine a more fantastic opportunity to get started,” said Hauer at the time. She wants a “social-political reform project”.

She remained a member of parliament for eleven years, at times also parliamentary managing director of the SPD parliamentary group and chairwoman of the finance committee. Hauer campaigned for equal opportunities in the labor market, for better all-day schools and more transparency in board salaries of listed companies.

She was briefly with the parliamentary left, but left after a speech by Oskar Lafontaine. Then she joined the “Networkers”, one of three movements in the SPD. A step that many SPD leftists have never forgiven her for. The group largely supported Schröder's Agenda 2010. Der Spiegel once described her as a “cover girl” for Schröder’s vague term “New Center,” with which the SPD wanted to win new groups of voters.

Hauer's time in the Bundestag ended with the 2009 federal election. Her regional association relegated her to the bottom of the list. She doesn't seem to have been entirely satisfied with her time in parliament. An article in the Berliner Republik, the newspaper of networkers, speaks of some disillusionment.

After a brief foray into the private sector, Hauer worked again as a teacher at a Berlin school. She has been the school principal for several years. Hauer should have leadership skills and political education. She would also be the first woman to head the bpb.