Emmi Zeulner


Emmi Zeulner is a German politician who represents the Christian Social Union in the Bundestag, the German federal parliament.

Early life and education

Zeulner is the daughter of an innkeeper from Degendorf. She became interested in politics at an early age after hearing it discussed in her father's tavern. In cultural events, she represented her town as a basket maker. After leaving school, she studied to become a nurse. In 2008 she was elected a local councillor.

Member of the German Bundestag, 2013–present

In January 2013, Zeulner was selected as the CSU candidate for the Kulmbach constituency, defeating two CSU candidates from neighbouring counties.
The Kulmbach constituency had been held by the party since a 1950 by-election and at the previous election her predecessor, the high-profile Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, had received the highest vote share in Germany. She held the seat at the 2013 election, receiving nearly 57% of the vote. She was the youngest CSU candidate in the election. After Mahmut Özdemir, she was the second youngest candidate elected.
As member of the Bundestag, Zeulner serves on the Health Committee, where she is her parliamentary group’s rapporteur on palliative and hospice medicine, drugs and other addictive substances as well as migration issues.
In the negotiations to form a coalition government under the leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, Zeulner was part of the working group on health policy, led by Hermann Gröhe, Georg Nüßlein and Malu Dreyer.

Other activities

In June 2017, Zeulner voted against Germany’s introduction of same-sex marriage.

Personal life

Zeulner and her partner Jürgen Baumgärtner have a daughter.