Henriette Reker

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Henriette Reker | image = Henriette Reker - 2019 (cropped).jpg | caption = Reker in 2019 | office = [[List of mayors of Cologne|Mayor of Cologne]] | term_start = 20 November 2015 | term_end = 31 October 2025 | predecessor = [[Jürgen Roters]] | successor = [[Torsten Burmester]] | party = [[Independent politician|Independent]] | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1956|12|09|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Cologne]], [[North Rhine-Westphalia]], [[West Germany]] }}

'''Henriette Reker''' (born 9 December 1956) is a German lawyer and [[independent politician]]. She is known for her pro-immigration stance and for being the victim of an {{Interlanguage link|Attempted assassination of Henriette Reker|lt=assassination attempt in 2015|de|Attentat auf Henriette Reker}}. A day after the attack, Reker was elected [[List of mayors of Cologne|mayor of Cologne]] after gaining 52.66% of the votes,<ref>City of Cologne: [http://wahlen.stadt-koeln.de/prod/OB2015/05315000/html5/Oberbuergermeisterwahl_Gemeinde_Stadt_Koeln.html Oberbuergermeisterwahl] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151020160002/http://wahlen.stadt-koeln.de/prod/OB2015/05315000/html5/Oberbuergermeisterwahl_Gemeinde_Stadt_Koeln.html |date=20 October 2015 }}, retrieved 19 October 2015</ref> becoming the first woman to hold the office. Reker was re-elected in 2020. Her term as mayor ended on 31 October 2025.

==Early life==

Reker was born to Josef Reker and Gretel Martini and raised in the Cologne district of [[Ehrenfeld, Cologne|Bickendorf]]. Reker's mother was a life-long member of the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]] and moved to Cologne from [[Lower Silesia]] after [[World War II]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fritzsche |first=Lara |last2=Cadenbach |first2=Christoph |date=2018-02-02 |title=Henriette Reker und Andreas Hollstein im Interview |url=https://sz-magazin.sueddeutsche.de/politik/fuer-einige-monate-hatte-ich-traeume-in-denen-ich-hingerichtet-werde-86831?reduced=true |access-date= |website=Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin |language=de}}</ref> while her father was a [[pastry chef]] who lived in [[Vogelsang, Cologne|Vogelsang]] district his whole life.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-09-14 |title=Porträt der Kölner OB: Wer ist Henriette Reker? – Nicht „die mit dem Attentat“ |url=https://www.ksta.de/koeln/wer-ist-henriette-reker-ein-portraet-der-koelner-oberbuergermeisterin-252907 |access-date= |website=Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-12-14 |title=OB Henriette Reker vereidigt: So werde ich die Stadt umkrempeln |url=https://www.bild.de/regional/koeln/henriette-reker/so-werde-ich-die-stadt-umkrempeln-43800000.bild.html |access-date= |website=Bild |language=de}}</ref>

Reker attended {{Interlanguage link|Liebfrauenschule Köln|lt=Liebfrauenschule|de}}, where she finished her ''[[Abitur]]'' in 1976. She studied law at the [[University of Cologne|Universities of Cologne]], [[University of Regensburg|Regensburg]], and [[University of Göttingen|Göttingen]], completing her second state law examination in 1986 at District Court Münster.

Between 1990 and 1992, Reker worked as a clerk for an employers' liability insurance association in [[Bielefeld]], then as legal [[counsel]] for the State Association of Guild Health Insurance Funds in [[Münster]] from until 2000. She gained her [[admission to practice law]] in 1996.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-09-28 |title=Fünf weitere Jahre im Amt: Kölns OB Henriette Reker hat erneut Geschichte geschrieben |url=https://www.ksta.de/koeln/ob-wahl-in-koeln-henriette-reker-hat-erneut-geschichte-geschrieben-210787 |access-date= |website=Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger |language=de}}</ref>

==Political career== From 2000 until 2010, Reker served as deputy mayor for Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection of [[Gelsenkirchen]]. In 2010 she was appointed a mayoral deputy for social affairs, integration and the environment of the city of Cologne.

Supported by the [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|CDU]], [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|FDP]], and [[Alliance '90/The Greens|The Greens]], Reker ran for [[List of mayors of Cologne|Mayor of Cologne]] in October 2015<ref>[https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article147725247/Die-Frau-die-an-ihrer-Stadt-leidet.html "Die Frau, die an ihrer Stadt leidet"] in ''[[Die Welt]]'', 17 October 2015</ref> and was re-elected in September 2020.<ref>[https://wahlen.stadt-koeln.de/prod/KW2020/05315000/html5/Buergermeisterstichwahl_NRW_46_Gemeinde_Stadt_Koeln.html "Stichwahl der Oberbürgermeisterin/des Oberbürgermeisters] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125171544/https://wahlen.stadt-koeln.de/prod/KW2020/05315000/html5/Buergermeisterstichwahl_NRW_46_Gemeinde_Stadt_Koeln.html |date=25 November 2020 }} in ''[[Stadt Köln]]'', 27 September 2020</ref> At the end of January 2025, Reker announced she would not seek a third term as mayor,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-31 |title=Reker tritt nicht mehr an {{!}} Kölner OB: „Ich sehe eine zunehmende Verwahrlosung der Stadt“ |url=https://www.ksta.de/koeln/ob-henriette-reker-im-interview-so-sind-die-koelner-nun-mal-952773 |access-date= |website=Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger |language=de}}</ref> her term as mayor ended on 31 October 2025.

===Assassination attempt=== [[File:Reker Attentat-34.jpg|thumb|Crime scene of the attack on Reker]] At a public event on 17 October 2015, the day before the mayoral election, Reker was seriously wounded when a 44-year-old German man stabbed her in the neck with a knife,<ref>{{cite web |title=Cologne mayoral candidate Henriette Reker seriously hurt in knife attack |publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]] |url=http://www.dw.com/en/cologne-mayoral-candidate-henriette-reker-seriously-hurt-in-knife-attack/a-18788390 |date=17 October 2015 |accessdate=17 October 2015}}</ref> while shouting about an "influx of refugees".<ref name=Independent>{{cite web |author=Lizzie Dearden |title=German mayoral candidate Henriette Reker stabbed in neck by man 'shouting about refugees' in Cologne |work=[[The Independent]]|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/german-mayoral-candidate-henriette-reker-stabbed-in-neck-by-man-shouting-about-refugees-in-cologne-a6698061.html |date=17 October 2015 |accessdate=17 October 2015}}</ref> Her aide was also hurt in the attack, as were three other people who had tried to subdue her attacker.<ref name="sky">{{cite web |date=17 October 2015 |title=German Mayoral Candidate Stabbed in Neck |url=http://news.sky.com/story/1571320/german-mayoral-candidate-stabbed-in-neck |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018135651/https://news.sky.com/story/1571320/german-mayoral-candidate-stabbed-in-neck |archive-date=18 October 2015 |accessdate=17 October 2015 |work=Sky News}}</ref> State prosecutors confirmed the attack to be [[politically]] motivated,<ref>{{cite web |title='Xenophobic' stabbing of Cologne mayoral candidate |publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]] |url=http://www.dw.com/en/xenophobic-stabbing-of-cologne-mayoral-candidate/a-18788902 |date=17 October 2015 |accessdate=17 October 2015}}</ref> after the perpetrator "confessed to having [[xenophobia|xenophobic]] motives at the uncontrolled influx of migrants". He was also found to have been a former associate of the [[Free German Workers' Party]] in the 1990s and attempted to contact the [[National Democratic Party of Germany]] in 2008.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Diehl |first=Jörg |date=2015-10-17 |title=Henriette Reker: Täter Frank S. hat rechtsextreme Vergangenheit |url=https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/henriette-reker-taeter-frank-s-hat-rechtsextreme-vergangenheit-a-1058337.html |access-date= |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}}</ref> As a member of Cologne's municipal administration, Reker had been responsible for the housing and integration of [[refugee]]s.<ref name=Independent /> Reker's main rival in the mayoral election, Social Democrat [[Jochen Ott]], suspended his campaign after the attack.<ref name="sky" /> Reker won the election while remaining in the intensive care unit of a local hospital.

Federal prosecutors soon took over the case from state prosecutors in Cologne on grounds of the particularly dangerous nature of the stabbing, which came against the backdrop of a rising tide of attacks on accommodation for refugees in Germany. In late October, they charged Frank S. with [[attempted murder]] and dangerous bodily harm. At the time, the authorities said the perpetrator was driven by his anger over Reker's work on the refugee issue. The attacker was sentenced to fourteen years in prison, with Reker recovering to testify at the trial.<ref>{{cite news |first=Peter |last=Wise |date=1 December 2015 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/29/world/europe/german-charged-in-attack-on-mayoral-candidate-over-refugee-work.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|title=German Charged in Attack on Mayoral Candidate Over Refugee Work}}</ref>

===New Year's Eve sexual assaults on women=== {{main|New Year's Eve sexual assaults in Germany}} Reker was accused of [[victim blaming]] following [[New Year's Eve sexual assaults in Germany|the attacks]] at Cologne's 2016 New Year's Eve celebrations. She claimed that "there's always the possibility of keeping a certain distance of more than an arm's length – that is to say to make sure yourself you don't look to be too close to people who are not known to you, and to whom you don't have a trusting relationship".<ref>{{cite news|author1=HANNAH AL-OTHMAN|title=Cologne Mayor accused of 'victim blaming' for comments after mass sex assaults|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/cologne-mayor-accused-of-victim-blaming-for-comments-after-mass-sex-assaults-a3149786.html|accessdate=7 January 2016|work=Evening Standard}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Twitter storm as Cologne mayor suggests women stay at 'arm's length' from strangers|url=http://www.dw.com/en/twitter-storm-as-cologne-mayor-suggests-women-stay-at-arms-length-from-strangers/a-18962430|accessdate=5 January 2016|publisher=Deutsche Welle|date=5 January 2015}}</ref> Reker was condemned by [[Lodewijk Asscher]], [[Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands]], for implying that women could have prevented the attacks against themselves.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Pieters|first1=Janene|title=DUTCH CABINET, MPS ANGERED BY COLOGNE MAYOR'S MASS SEX ASSAULT REMARKS|url=http://www.nltimes.nl/2016/01/06/dutch-cabinet-mps-angered-by-cologne-mayors-mass-sex-assault-remarks/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160106165448/http://www.nltimes.nl/2016/01/06/dutch-cabinet-mps-angered-by-cologne-mayors-mass-sex-assault-remarks/|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 January 2016|accessdate=10 January 2016|work=NL Times|date=6 January 2016}}</ref> Reker accused the media of taking her comments out of context: she claimed that she had only reacted to a reporter's question by quoting an existing communal guideline for safety during partying in a speech.<ref>{{cite news|title=Reker defends tips for women (German)|url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/einearmlaenge-reker-verteidigt-verhaltenstipps-fuer-frauen-14000219.html|accessdate=6 September 2016}}</ref>

==Other activities== ===Corporate boards=== * [[Cologne Bonn Airport]], ex-officio member of the supervisory board * [[Koelnmesse]], ex-officio chairwoman of the supervisory board * [[NRW.BANK]], member of the advisory board * Rheinenergie, member of the advisory board * [[RWE]], member of the advisory board * [[Stadtwerke Köln]], ex-officio member of the supervisory board

===Non-profit organizations=== * [[1. FC Köln]], member of the advisory board (since 2019)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ksta.de/sport/1-fc-koeln/praesidium-strafft-strukturen-1--fc-koeln-besetzt-seine-gremien-neu-33278548 |title=Präsidium strafft Strukturen 1. FC Köln besetzt seine Gremien neu |newspaper=[[Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger]] |language=de |date=7 October 2019 }}</ref> * Theodor Heuss Foundation, member of the board of trustees (since 2019)<ref>[Board of Trustees] Theodor Heuss Foundation.</ref> * [[Academy of Media Arts Cologne]] (KHM), member of the board of trustees<ref>[https://www.khm.de/partner/ Board of Trustees] [[Academy of Media Arts Cologne]].</ref> * [[Technical University of Cologne]], member of the board of trustees * Stiftung Lebendige Stadt, member of the board of trustees * [[German Society for Photography]] (DGPh), member * Kölnische Karnevalsgesellschaft, member * [[Soroptimist International]] (SI), Member<ref>[https://clubkoelnkolumba.soroptimist.de/ueber-uns/organisation/mitglieder/ Members] [[Soroptimist International|Soroptimist International Club Köln-Kolumba]].</ref> * Amerika Haus e.V. NRW, ex-officio member of the board of trustees * [[Historical Archive of the City of Cologne|Stiftung Stadtgedächtnis]], member of the board of trustees * Society for Control of Common Diseases in the Ruhr District, chairwoman * Kliniken der Stadt Köln gGmbH, member of the supervisory board (2011–2015) * Godeshöhe Neurological Rehabilitation Center, member of the supervisory board (2011–2015) * RehaNova Neurological and Neurosurgical Rehabilitation Clinic, member of the supervisory board (2011–2015)

==References== {{reflist}}

== External links == {{Commons category}} * {{Official website}} {{in lang|de|en}} * [http://www.stadt-koeln.de/service/adressen/dezernat-v-soziales-integration-und-umwelt Curriculum vitae on the website of the City of Cologne] {{in lang|de}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reker, Henriette}} [[Category:1956 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Politicians from Cologne]] [[Category:Mayors of Cologne]] [[Category:21st-century German women politicians]] [[Category:German lawyers]] [[Category:Members of Soroptimist International]]