Claus Ruhe Madsen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eva-Maria Kröger
27 August 1972
Claus Ruhe Madsen | |
|---|---|
 Madsen in 2021 | |
| Minister for Economics, Transport, Labour, Technology and Tourism in Schleswig-Holstein | |
| Assumed office 29 June 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Bernd Buchholz |
| Mayor of Rostock | |
| In office 1 September 2019 – 29 June 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Roland Methling |
| Succeeded by | Chris von Wrycz Rekowski (acting) Eva-Maria Kröger |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Claus Ruhe Madsen 27 August 1972 Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Party | Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) |
Claus Ruhe Madsen (born 27 August 1972) is a Danish and German entrepreneur who is active as a politician in Germany. He is currently serving as Minister for Economics, Transport, Labour, Technology and Tourism in the Schleswig-Holstein state government since June 2022. He was previously Mayor of Rostock, the largest city in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, from September 2019 until resigning to take up his ministerial post. Prior to entering politics, he was president of the Rostock Chamber of Industry and Commerce and vice-president of the German-Danish Chamber of Commerce in Denmark.
Madsen was born in Copenhagen grew up in a housing development north of the city. At the age of 12, he started his first company mowing lawns in the neighbourhood. Soon after, he moved with his family to Fjand, a settlement between the North Sea and Nissum Fjord with just nine inhabitants before the family moved in. Because of the long distance to school, he moved into the nutrition department at the public high school in Struer at the age of 14. He graduated from high school in 1992 at the top of his class. He then worked on a fishing trawler for six months. He wanted to join the Royal Life Guards, but chose instead to travel abroad at his parents' insistence.[1][2]
The trip abroad, originally planned to last a year, was to the Ruhr area in Germany. Madsen was employed there from 1992 to 1996, first as a salesperson and a year later as branch manager in a furniture store. In mid-1996, he was a self-employed sales representative. He moved to Rostock with his wife in early 1998, where he co-opened the furniture store Möbel Wikinger. By 2019, the company employed around 100 employees at five locations.[1][2]
In May 2012, Madsen founded the food service company Food and Fun GmbH, which was later renamed Mobilson GmbH. Since 2017, it has also offered motor home rentals.[1] In May 2018, he received an entrepreneur award for his commitment to promoting the image of the city of Rostock. He also owns an ice cream stand and a sausage stand in Rostock. In 2017, Madsen took over the organization of the Hanse-Tour Sonnenschein, an annual cycling event in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern attracting more than 200 participants which raises money for children suffering from cancer and chronic illness.[2]
Madsen served two terms as chairman of the Rostock Chamber of Industry and Commerce from 2013 to 2019, and was vice president of the German-Danish Chamber of Commerce in Denmark from 2014 to 2019. He is a member of the Warnemünde Rotary Club.[2]
Madsen met his wife, who is Finnish, while living in the Ruhr. They have a daughter together.[2]