Thorsten Frei

Thorsten Frei
Thorsten Frei
	Frei in 2023
Head of the Chancellery; Minister for Special Affairs
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 6 May 2025
Chancellor	Friedrich Merz
Preceded by	Wolfgang Schmidt
Chief Whip of the CDU/CSU group; in the Bundestag
	In office; 15 December 2021 – 5 May 2025
Leader	Ralph Brinkhaus; Friedrich Merz
Preceded by	Michael Grosse-Brömer
Succeeded by	Steffen Bilger
Member of the Bundestag ; for Schwarzwald-Baar
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 22 October 2013
Preceded by	Siegfried Kauder
Mayor of Donaueschingen
	In office; 2004–2013
Preceded by	Bernhard Everke
Succeeded by	Erik Pauly
Personal details
Born	8 August 1973 (age 52); Säckingen, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany; (now Germany)
Party	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
Children	3
Alma mater	University of Freiburg
Occupation	Lawyer • Professor • Politician
Military service
Allegiance	Germany
Branch/service	Bundeswehr
Years of service	1993–1994
Unit	Franco-German Brigade
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Thorsten Frei (born 8 August 1973) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as Head of the Federal Chancellery in the government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz since 2025.^[1]

Frei has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Baden-Württemberg since 2013.^[2]

Political career

Frei became mayor of Donaueschingen in 2004, a position he relinquished when he first became a member of the Bundestag in the 2013 German federal election.^[3] From 2013 until 2017, he was a member of the Committee on European Affairs, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and its Subcommittee on Civilian Crisis Prevention.

From 2018 to 2021, Frei served as deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, under the leadership of chairman Volker Kauder. In this capacity, he coordinated the group's legislative activities on consumer protection, domestic affairs, sports, and minorities. He also served on the Committee on the Election of Judges (Wahlausschuss), which is in charge of appointing judges to the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany.

From 2021 to 2025, Frei was his parliamentary group's chief whip, under the leadership of successive chairs Ralph Brinkhaus (2021–2022) and Friedrich Merz (2022–2025).^[4]^[5]

In addition to his committee assignments, Frei chaired the German-Swiss Parliamentary Friendship Group.

Other activities

Munich Security Conference Foundation, Member of the Foundation Council (since 2025)^[6]
Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF), Member of the Supervisory Board (2018–2019)
Federal Agency for Civic Education (BPB), Member of the Board of Trustees