Berlin, October 13th, 2026 (The Berlin Spectator) – Alexander Schweitzer of the center-left SPD is set to become Germany’s new Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was going to formally appoint him at 5 p.m. today. According to the Federal President’s Office, outgoing minister Bärbel Bas was to be handed her certificate of dismissal beforehand.
Bas announced her immediate resignation on Monday. She cited a death in her family and public attacks against her. Schweitzer’s appointment therefore follows within a single day. He must be sworn in by the Bundestag before he can take over the ministry.
Schweitzer, 53, knows the portfolio from the state level. He headed the labor and social affairs ministry in Rhineland-Palatinate twice, from 2013 to 2014 and again from 2021 to 2024. In between, he led the SPD group in the state parliament. After Malu Dreyer stepped down, he served as Minister President (governor) for nearly two years. Soaring social spending was one of his central topics, alongside municipal finances, the economy and education. Members of his party describe him as a labor and social policy expert “out of passion”.
Lost Election
His career took a turn in March, when he lost the state election to the CDU under Gordon Schnieder. It was the first time in 35 years that the CDU came out on top in the home state of Helmut Kohl. Schweitzer negotiated the SPD’s side of the coalition agreement with the CDU but did not join the new cabinet, as he had announced during the campaign. He returned as parliamentary group leader and acting head of the state party, although he has not been elected to that post. A party convention promised to examine the election defeat has no date yet.
Schweitzer also serves as one of the SPD’s deputy federal chairs and has regularly commented on national politics. Speculation about a move to the capital had circulated since the election. Schweitzer, a protégé of former state premier and SPD chairman Kurt Beck, had been mentioned as a possible minister or as the SPD’s secretary general. A joint party leadership with Manuela Schwesig was also floated.
The new minister is the son of an inland waterway skipper and spent the first six years of his life aboard a ship. As a child, he wanted to become a lock keeper. He is rooted in the southern Palatinate and lives in the small town of Bad Bergzabern. At 16, he joined the SPD. He has been vegan for more than ten years and is a big fan of second-division soccer club 1. FC Kaiserslautern. At 2.06 meters (about 6 feet 9 inches), he played mostly basketball in his younger years.
Music is among his hobbies and a source of relaxation. Schweitzer is a big fan of the Britpop band Oasis and also likes Taylor Swift. He is married to Barbara, a teacher, and has two sons. A daughter from a previous relationship is also part of the family, as is the dog Mimi.