Thomas de Maizière was in politics for more than 30 years. During this time, the convinced Christian Democrat held various political offices in different state and federal governments. Thomas de Maizière always demonstrated attitude and earned a reputation as a level-headed and determined doer. After graduating from high school and completing his military service, Thomas de Maizière (*1954) studied law and history in Münster and Freiburg from 1974 to 1982 and passed the first and second state law examinations. His first political job was as a speechwriter for the then Governing Mayor of Berlin, Richard von Weizsäcker, in 1983. This marked the beginning of an impressive political career. Thomas de Maizière then became a staff member of Eberhard Diepgen, Richard von Weizsäcker's successor. From 1985 to 1989 he was head of the policy department of the Senate Chancellery of the State of Berlin and press spokesman for the CDU parliamentary group in the Berlin House of Representatives. In 1990 he became a member of the negotiating delegation for the German Unification Treaty and played an active role in the reunification of Germany. He experienced the rebuilding of the East German states at first hand, initially from 1990 to 1998 in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania as State Secretary in the Ministry of Culture and Head of the State Chancellery. He then worked in Saxony, where he held the offices of Minister of Finance, Minister of Justice and Minister of the Interior as well as Head of the State Chancellery. The switch to federal politics came when Angela Merkel appointed him head of the Federal Chancellery in 2005. After the 2009 Bundestag elections, Thomas de Maizière became Federal Minister of the Interior and moved to the office of Federal Minister of Defence in 2011, succeeding Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. From 2013 to 2018, he again held the office of Federal Minister of the Interior. After the 2017 Bundestag elections, Thomas de Maizière left the Federal Government after twelve years of responsibility as Federal Minister. He remained a member of the German Bundestag and represented his constituency of Meißen as a directly elected MP from 2018 to 2021. Since June 2018, Dr Thomas de Maizière has been Honorary Professor of Constitutional Law and Political Science at the University of Leipzig, and in autumn 2018 he has become Chairman of the Deutsche Telekom Foundation. On 1 December 2018, he has also been elected Chairman of the Ethics Commission of the German Olympic Sports Confederation. Dr Thomas de Maizière knows Germany's situation like no other and knows how to place it in an international context. He speaks eloquently on security, demographic development and social trends in Germany. His favourite topic is the appreciation of the social commitment of volunteers and committed citizens.