Gabriele Iwersen

Iwersen was born on 25 October 1939 in Berlin.^[1] She attended the Goethe-Gymnasium, Lichterfelde [de], graduating in 1958.^[1] She then obtained her Diplom from the Technische Universität Berlin and spent a year at Stanford University (1964-1965) on a DAAD scholarship, giving a seminar on German housing construction.^[1]

After working in Berlin as a construction manager, Iwersen became an architect at Iwersen Architekten, a architecture firm her family ran.^[1] The firm's work included the 1979 renovation of Banter Kirche [de] in Wilhelmshaven.^[2] Throughout her career, she worked as a freelancer.^[1]

Iwersen joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1971,^[3] and later the local SPD executive committee in 1972.^[1] She was elected to Wilhelmshaven city council in 1976,^[1] and she served as mayor of Wilhelmshaven from 1986 until 1991.^[3] In the 1990 German federal election, she was elected to the Bundestag constituency of Friesland – Wilhelmshaven – Wittmund.^[3] She was elected to the same seat two more times, in 1994 and 1998.^[3] She was a member of the Committee for Spatial Planning, Construction and Urban Development [de], as well as the commission on the relocation of Bundestag into the Reichstag building.^[2] She stepped down in 2002.^[3]

Iwersen served as project manager of Bürger für Wilhelmshaven, helping restore the old water tower, as well as the women empowerment organization Arbeitsplatzinitiative für Frauen.^[2] She was also a board member for Radio Jade [de], as well as a founding member of Förderverein Küstenmuseum Wilhelmshaven [de].^[2]

She was married to Heiko Iwersen, her business partner at Iwersen Architekten, until his death.^[2][4] They had two children.^[2]

Iwersen died on 8 December 2025 in Oldenburg, aged 86.^[3]