Thomas Kossendey

Last updated

Thomas Kossendey
Thomas Kossendey 2013.jpg
Thomas Kossendey in 2013
Member of the Bundestag for Oldenburg – Ammerland
In office
18 February 1987 –22 October 2013
CommitteesCommittee for Defence

Thomas Kossendey (born 4 March 1948) is a German politician, lawyer, and former member of the Bundestag. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he was elected to the Bundestag in 1987 and served until 2013. Kossendey was elected via the state list until 2009, when he was elected directly to the constituency of Oldenburg – Ammerland. He served as the Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Defence between 2006 and 2013.

Contents

Early life and education

Thomas Kossendey was born in Ammerland on 4 March 1948. [1] [2] He graduated from gymnasium school in 1967. [1] [3]

Kossendey served in the Bundeswehr for 18 months following his graduation from high school and completed basic military training. [1] [4] After his military service, Kossendey studied political science and law at the University of Cologne and the University of Münster. [5]

Local politics

Between 1974 and 1980, Kossendey was the chairman of the Young Union Oldenburg State Association. [1] [4] He also served as chairman of the CDU's district association in Ammerland. [1] In 1979, Kossendey passed the second Staatsexamen and joined the Lower Saxony civil service in 1980. [4] [5] He served as head of the minister's office in the Lower Saxony Ministry of Education. He was the subject of tension between the Oldenburg and Ammerland CDU associations, having run as an opposing candidate in the CDU's 1983 local selection process for the Oldenburg – Ammerland constituency. [2]

Bundestag

Kossendey on a CDU campaign poster from 1990. KAS-Kossendey, Thomas-Bild-3089-1.jpg
Kossendey on a CDU campaign poster from 1990.

In 1987, Kossendey was elected to the Bundestag for the CDU. [1] He was elected via the state list in every election until 2009, [6] when he won the direct mandate for his constituency. [2] [7] [8]

He was a member of the Defense Committee between 1987 and 2006, and was its deputy chairman from 1998 onwards. [1] Kossendey was the chairman of the German–Turkish Parliamentary Group between 2006 and 2009, and focuses extensively on German–Turkish relations. [1] [9] From 2006 until his retirement in 2013, he served as the Parliamentary State Secretary to the Minister of Defence. [1] [10]

In 2013, Kossendey retired from the Bundestag after 27 years. [10]

Post-Bundestag career

From 2013 to 2017, he was the spokesperson for the Advisory Board on Leadership Principles in the German army. [5] He also served as chairman of the Oldenburg Landscaping Association. [11]

Personal life

Kossendey is married to his wife Claudia and has one son, Jonas. [1] [3] [12] He is Catholic. [1] He hobbies include tennis and gardening. [3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Deutscher Bundestag: Kossendey, Thomas". webarchiv.bundestag.de. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 NWZonline.de (6 July 2022). "Große Einigkeit: CDU steht hinter Thomas Kossendey". www.nwzonline.de (in German). Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 "Thomas Kossendey - Persönliches". www.thomaskossendey.de (in German). Archived from the original on 27 July 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 "Kossendey Thomas". webarchiv.bundestag.de. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 "Capstone-Seminar für die 1. Panzerdivision" (PDF). Zebis. 30 August 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  6. ↑ "Niedersachsen". webarchiv.bundestag.de. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  7. ↑ "Deutscher Bundestag: Oldenburg - Ammerland". webarchiv.bundestag.de. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  8. ↑ NWZonline.de (4 July 2022). "Neun kämpfen um das Direktmandat". www.nwzonline.de (in German). Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  9. ↑ U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News Publishing Corporation. 1995.
  10. 1 2 NWZonline.de (30 June 2022). "Staatssekretär Kossendey mit viel Lob verabschiedet". www.nwzonline.de (in German). Retrieved 22 January 2026.
  11. ↑ "Thomas Kossendey gibt Vorsitz der Oldenburgischen Landschaft ab". rundblick-niedersachsen.de (in German). Retrieved 22 January 2026.
  12. ↑ "Das Leid der Politikerfrauen | Cicero Online". www.cicero.de (in German). Retrieved 21 January 2026.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.