Photo: Ralf Roletschek / GFDL 1.2 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Cem Özdemir is, to me, one of the more quietly significant political stories in modern Europe. The son of Turkish immigrants, born in Bad Urach, who rose through the Greens to become Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture and then Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg in 2026, he embodies a Germany still learning to see its own diversity as strength. The awards tell the deeper story: the Leo Baeck Award and Ignatz Bubis Award honor tolerance and reconciliation, not just policy wins. I respect figures who turn a complicated identity into a bridge rather than a grievance, and Özdemir has done exactly that with real staying power.
Overview
Cem Özdemir (German: [ˈdʒɛm ˈœsdemiːɐ̯]; Turkish: [ˈdʒem ˈœzdemiɾ]; born 21 December 1965) is a German politician serving as Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg since 2026. He served as Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture in the cabinet of Olaf Scholz from December 2021 to May 2025.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Cem Özdemir
- Name (Japanese)
- ジェム・オズデミル
- Reading
- じぇむ・おずでみる
- Born
- December 21, 1965 (age 60)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Sagittarius / Snake
- Origin
- Bad Urach, Tübingen Government Region, Germany
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- politician / environmentalist / social pedagogue / educator
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- 2013 Orden wider den tierischen Ernst
- 1996 Theodor Heuss Medal
- 2021 Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg
- 2022 German Leo Baeck Award
- 2019 Ignatz Bubis Award
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Politician — see all → · Environmentalist — see all → · More people from Germany →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.