Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth
Federal ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (German: Bundesministerium für Bildung, Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend; abbreviated BMBFSFJ) is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is headquartered in Berlin with a secondary seat in Bonn.
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52.51331°N 13.38671°E
| German: Bundesministerium für Bildung, Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend | |
Official logo since 6 May 2025 | |
 | |
 Headquarters of the BMBFSFJ in Berlin-Mitte | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1953 as the Bundesministerium für Familienfragen |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Germany |
| Headquarters | Berlin, Germany 52.51331°N 13.38671°E |
| Employees | 828 (2025)[1] |
| Annual budget | €16.664 billion (2026)[1] |
| Minister responsible |
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| Agency executives | |
| Website | bmbfsfj |
The ministry has been headed by Karin Prien since 6 May 2025.[2]
History
The original organization was first founded in 1953 as the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs (Bundesministerium für Familienfragen). In 1957, this was changed to the Ministry for Family and Youth Affairs (Bundesministerium für Familien- und Jugendfragen) and in 1963 to the Federal Ministry for Family and Youth (Bundesministerium für Familie und Jugend. In 1969 after the incorporation of the Federal Ministry for Health (Bundesministerium für Gesundheit, created in 1961), it was changed to the Federal Ministry for Youth, Family and Health (Bundesministerium für Jugend, Familie und Gesundheit). In 1986, it was renamed to the Federal Ministry for Youth, Family, Women, and Health (Bundesministerium für Jugend, Familie, Frauen und Gesundheit). The area of health was removed in 1991 and transferred to the Federal Ministry for Health. The remaining Ministry was divided into the Federal Ministry for Women and Youth (Bundesministerium für Frauen und Jugend), and the Federal Ministry for Family and Senior Citizens (Bundesministerium für Familie und Senioren). In 1994, these divided areas were recombined into the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend).
In the Merz cabinet since 6 May 2025, the education portfolio has been removed from the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space and transferred to the Ministry of Family Affairs. Since then, the ministry has been called the Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Bundesministerium für Bildung, Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend).[3]
Organisation
Departments
With the new assignment of tasks to the BMBFSFJ, the organisation was restructured. According to the organisational chart, which reflects the status as of November 2025, there are nine departments:[4]
- Department L: Management Department
- Department Z: Central Services
- Department G: Principle and Digitalisation
- Department 1: Democracy and Engagement
- Department 2: Family
- Department 3: Women and Equality
- Department 4: Early and School Education, Educational Research
- Department 5: Vocational Education and Lifelong Learning
- Department 6: Intergenerational Justice, Youth, Older People
Agencies and commissioners
The BMBFSFJ has the following subordinate authorities and commissioners (as of 2025):[5]
- Federal Office of Family Affairs and Civil Society Functions
- Independent Federal Commissioner against Sex Abuse of Children and Adolescents
- Federal Government Commissioner against Antiziganism and for the Life of Sinti and Roma in Germany
- Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency
- Federal Government Commissioner for the Acceptance of Sexual and Gender Diversity
- Federal Agency for Child and Youth Protection in the Media
- Federal Volunteers Service
Federal Ministers
Political Party: CDU SPD Green
| Name (Born-Died) |
Portrait | Party | Term of Office | Chancellor (Cabinet) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal Minister for Family Affairs (1953–1957) Federal Minister for Family and Youth Affairs (1957–1963) Federal Minister for Family and Youth (1963–1969) | ||||||
| 1 | Franz-Josef Wuermeling (1900–1986) |
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CDU | 20 October 1953 | 13 December 1962 | Adenauer (II • III • IV) |
| 2 | Bruno Heck (1917–1989) |
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CDU | 14 December 1962 | 2 October 1968 | Adenauer (V) Erhard (I • II) Kiesinger (I) |
| 3 | Aenne Brauksiepe (1912–1997) |
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CDU | 16 October 1968 | 21 October 1969 | Kiesinger (I) |
| Federal Minister for Youth, Family and Health (1969–1986) Federal Minister for Youth, Family, Women and Health (1986–1991) | ||||||
| 4 | Käte Strobel (1907–1996) |
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SPD | 22 October 1969 | 15 December 1972 | Brandt (I) |
| 5 | Katharina Focke (1922–2016) |
 |
SPD | 15 December 1972 | 14 December 1976 | Brandt (II) Schmidt (I) |
| 6 | Antje Huber (1924–2015) |
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SPD | 16 December 1976 | 28 April 1982 | Schmidt (II • III) |
| 7 | Anke Fuchs (1937–2019) |
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SPD | 28 April 1982 | 1 October 1982 | Schmidt (III) |
| 8 | Heiner Geißler (1930–2017) |
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CDU | 4 October 1982 | 26 September 1985 | Kohl (I • II) |
| 9 | Rita Süssmuth (1937–2026) |
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CDU | 26 September 1985 | 9 December 1988 | Kohl (II • III) |
| 10 | Ursula Lehr (1930–2022) |
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CDU | 9 December 1988 | 18 January 1991 | Kohl (III) |
| Federal Minister for Family and Senior Citizens | 18 January 1991 | 17 November 1994 | Kohl (IV) | |||
| 11a | Hannelore Rönsch (b. 1942) |
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CDU | |||
| Federal Minister for Women and Youth | ||||||
| 11b | Angela Merkel (b. 1954) |
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CDU | |||
| Federal Minister for Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth | ||||||
| 12 | Claudia Nolte (b. 1966) |
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CDU | 17 November 1994 | 26 October 1998 | Kohl (V) |
| 13 | Christine Bergmann (b. 1939) |
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SPD | 27 October 1998 | 22 October 2002 | Schröder (I) |
| 14 | Renate Schmidt (b. 1943) |
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SPD | 22 October 2002 | 22 November 2005 | Schröder (II) |
| 15 | Ursula von der Leyen (b. 1958) |
 |
CDU | 22 November 2005 | 30 November 2009 | Merkel (I) |
| 16 | Kristina Schröder (b. 1977) |
 |
CDU | 30 November 2009 | 17 December 2013 | Merkel (II) |
| 17 | Manuela Schwesig (b. 1974) |
 |
SPD | 17 December 2013 | 2 June 2017 | Merkel (III) |
| 18 | Katarina Barley (b. 1968) |
 |
SPD | 2 June 2017 | 14 March 2018 | Merkel (III) |
| 19 | Franziska Giffey (b. 1978) |
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SPD | 14 March 2018 | 20 May 2021 | Merkel (IV) |
| 20 | Christine Lambrecht (b. 1965) |
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SPD | 20 May 2021 | 8 December 2021 | Merkel (IV) |
| 21 | Anne Spiegel (b. 1980) |
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Green | 8 December 2021 | 25 April 2022 | Scholz (I) |
| 22 | Lisa Paus (b. 1968) |
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Green | 25 April 2022 | 6 May 2025 | |
| Federal Minister for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth[6] | ||||||
| 23 | Karin Prien (b. 1965) |
 |
CDU | 6 May 2025 | Incumbent | Merz (I) |
Others
The activities of the Ministry were highlighted in media coverage in 2007 when the contents of one of the leaflets it distributed was claimed to encourage sexual massage between parents and their children.[7] The leaflets were removed from circulation when the matter became national news.
