1998 Graduated from secondary school in Munster; 1998-1999 Non-military national service at the Bahnhofsmission aid centre in the Hanover railway station; 1999-2004 Studied political science, sociology and history at Leibniz University
Hannover (graduated with Magister degree); 2001-2004 Fellow, Friedrich Ebert Foundation; 2005, 2009 - present Member of the German Bundestag; 2006 - 2018 Member of the Heidekreis district council; 2009 - 2017 Digital policy spokesperson for the SPD parliamentary group SPD; 2014 - 2018 Chair of the group of SPD Bundestag members from Lower Saxony and Bremen; 2017 - 2021 Secretary General of the SPD; 2021 - present Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD); May 2025 - present Vice Cancellor and Federal Minister of Finance