Karin Prien

Karin Prien (born on 26 June 1965 in Amsterdam) is a German lawyer and politician (CDU). She has been Federal Minister for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth since May 2025.

After receiving her higher education entrance qualification (Abitur) in Neuwied in 1984, Prien studied law and political science in Bonn, completing her first state examination in law in 1989. She went on to complete a postgraduate degree in international commercial law (LL.M.) in Amsterdam and practical legal training in Hanover, finishing with the second state examination in law in 1994. Subsequently, she worked as a lawyer specialising in business and insolvency law in Hanover, Leipzig and Hamburg; additionally, she has been specialising in commercial and corporate law and has been working as a business mediator since 2008.

Prien has been politically active in the CDU since 1981. She served as Member of the Hamburg Parliament (Hamburgische Bürgerschaft), acting as deputy chairperson of the CDU parliamentary group and as spokesperson on schools, refugees, the Constitution, the rules of procedure and the scrutiny of elections. She served as Minister for Education, Science and Culture in the Land of Schleswig-Holstein from 2017 to 2025 and as Member of the State Parliament of Schleswig-Holstein from 2022 to 2025. In addition, she acts as Deputy Chairperson of the CDU in Schleswig-Holstein and Deputy Federal Chairperson of the CDU in Germany, Chairperson of the CDU’s Jewish Forum and Chairperson of the CDU Federal Committee on Education, Research and Innovation.