Angelika Mertens Explained

Angelika Mertens (11 October 1952 – 19 June 2019) was a German politician. She was parliamentary state secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs from 2000 until 2005.

Life

Mertens was born in 1952 in Harsefeld. She was a bookseller and studied economics. In 1969 she joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and was a member of the Young Socialists.

Mertens held a municipal council position in Eimsbüttel from 1987 – 1994. After successfully running in the 1994 German federal election, Mertens was a member of the German: [[Bundestag]], representing the Hamburg-Eimsbüttel electoral district. She was the SPD parliamentary group's spokesperson on transport and building policy from 1998, and then became parliamentary state secretary in the transport ministry during the first and second Schröder cabinet. She did not run in the 2005 election, ending her term in the German: Bundestag.

After leaving parliament, she was chairwoman of the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund in Hamburg from 2006 until her unexpected death in June 2019.