- published: 25 Dec 2012
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Norbert Lammert (born 16 November 1948 in Bochum) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He has been the President of the Bundestag, the German parliament, since 2005.
Lammert attended gymnasium in Bochum where he studied classics. He obtained his abitur in 1967. He carried out military service in the Bundeswehr from 1967 to 1969. Following his military service he went on to the University of Bochum, which included a period abroad at the University of Oxford, where he studied political science and modern history. He went on to obtain his Ph.D. (Dr. rer. soc.) from the University of Bochum.
Having joined the CDU in 1966, he was deputy chairman of the Bochum branch of the CDU. After leading the North Rhine-Westphalia branch of the Junge Union (the youth organization of the CDU), he was elected to the Bundestag in 1980. During his tenure in the Bundestag he served on several committees.
Following the 2005 federal elections, Lammert was elected by the Bundestag on 18 October 2005 to replace Wolfgang Thierse of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) as its President. Lammert received 564 of 607 votes cast, including most of the SPD's votes. He was reelected to this post by the 17th Bundestag after the 2009 federal election.