Christian Dürr (born 18 April 1977) is a German politician who served as the Leader of the Free Democratic Party from 2025 to 2026. He previously led the party's parliamentary group in the Bundestag from 2021 to 2025.Constanze von Bullion, Henrike Roßbach and Mike Szymanski (7 December 2021), Berliner Personalien: Neue Gesichter, unerwartete Namen Süddeutsche Zeitung. He was a member of the Bundestag from 2017 to 2025.
Early life and education Dürr was born in Delmenhorst. He graduated in economics from Leibniz University Hannover, with a thesis on emissions trading.
Political career Career in state politics Dürr was first elected to the Lower Saxon Landtag in the 2003 state elections. He was his parliamentary group's spokesperson on environmental policy (2003–2009) and media policy (2013–2017). Between 2009 and 2017, he served as chairman of the parliamentary group; in this role, he succeeded Jörg Bode.
Member of the German Bundestag, 2017–2025
Dürr first became a member of the German Bundestag in the 2017 elections, representing the Delmenhorst – Wesermarsch – Oldenburg-Land district. Within his parliamentary group, he chaired the Bundestag group of FDP parliamentarians from Lower Saxony, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. He also served as one of six deputy chairpersons of the FDP parliamentary group under the leadership of its chairman Christian Lindner, where he oversaw the group's activities on finance and budget policy.FDP komplettiert Fraktionsspitze Handelsblatt, 20 October 2017.
Ahead of the 2021 election, Dürr was elected to lead the FDP's campaign in Lower Saxony.Stefan Idel (29 June 2021), Landesliste für Bundestagswahl: Niedersachsen-FDP setzt auf Christian Dürr Nordwest-Zeitung.
In the negotiations to form a so-called traffic light coalition of the Social Democrats (SPD), the Green Party and the FDP following the 2021 federal elections, Dürr led his party's delegation in the working group on financial regulation and the national budget; his co-chairs from the other parties were Doris Ahnen and Lisa Paus.Andreas Apetz and Thomas Kaspar (22 October 2021), Ampel-Koalition: Alle Verantwortlichen, AGs und Themen im Überblick Frankfurter Rundschau.
In December 2021, Dürr was elected leader of the FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag, succeeding Christian Lindner. In 2023, he was re-elected by 93 percent of his parliamentary group's members.Henrike Roßbach (20 September 2023), FDP: Frank Schäffler macht die Wahl zum Fraktionsvorstand spannend Süddeutsche Zeitung.
On 6 November 2024, the coalition broke. A Bundestag snap election took place on 23 February 2025. The FDP recorded their worst historical result with 4.3%, and lost all representation in the Bundestag (Five percent hurdle). Lindner stepped down as FDP chairman.
In mid-March 2025, Dürr announced his candidacy for the party chairmanship and on May 16, 2025, he was elected at a federal party convention. Under his leadership, the FDP failed to regain seats in the state parliaments of Baden-Württemberg and in Rhineland-Palatinate.zeit.de: Christian Dürr zieht Kandidatur als FDP-Chef zurück 5 April 2026
Later career In 2026, Dürr joined Munich-based startup GLE350 as managing director.Heike Göbel (15 July 2026), Früherer FDP-Chef wird Geschäftsführer von E-Fuel-Start-up Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Other activities Government agencies Institute for Federal Real Estate (BImA), Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2018)
Corporate boards Universum AG, Member of the Supervisory Board
Non-profits Bundesverband der Unternehmervereinigungen (BUV), Member of the Advisory BoardAdvisory Board Bundesverband der Unternehmervereinigungen (BUV). SV Werder Bremen, Member
Political positions In January 2022, Dürr told business magazine Wirtschaftswoche that Germany needs to attract 400,000 foreign workers a year.
References
External links Official website