Biography
He grew up in Ditzingen. After graduating from high school at the Korntal-Münchingen high school in Korntal-Münchingen, he studied law and economics at the University of Tübingen, where he also belonged to a student association and worked as a research assistant. After Oettinger completed his studies in 1982, he worked as an assessor at a firm of auditors and tax consultants. In 1984 he was admitted to the bar. He then joined the aforementioned law firm as a lawyer, which he has also been managing director of since 1988. In addition to this professional legal activity, Oettinger became involved in party politics at the local and state level early on by joining the CDU Ditzingen, whose chairman he was from 1977 to 1985. From 1979 to 1993 he was a district councilor in Ludwigsburg, and from 1980 to 1994 he sat on the city council of Ditzingen, where he also headed the CDU parliamentary group.
In 1983, Oettinger was made state chairman of the Junge Union in Baden-Württemberg; He held this office until 1989. In 1984 he entered the Stuttgart state parliament for his constituency of Vaihingen/Enz, where he has been represented ever since. Under Prime Minister Erwin Teufel, Oettinger was made leader of the CDU parliamentary group in the state parliament in 1991. The politician rose to the position of "crown prince" in state politics alongside Teufel. He was able to credibly refute allegations that were made against him in the first half of the 1990s in connection with the so-called "pizzeria affair". In May 1999, Oettinger was elected chairman of the CDU's Federal Media Policy Committee. In 2001 he was also made chairman of the CDU district of North Württemberg. The "Crown Prince" now increasingly publicly asserted his claim to take over the office of Prime Minister. The result was an agonizing personnel debate within the Baden-Württemberg CDU, with the incumbent Prime Minister favoring the state's Education Minister, Anette Schavan, as his successor.
In October 2004, Teufel announced that he would be giving up his positions as Prime Minister and CDU state chairman in the spring of 2005. After an internal member vote, Oettinger was elected as Teufel's successor and the CDU's top candidate for the 2006 state election in December 2004. On April 21, 2005, the Baden-Württemberg state parliament appointed Günther Oettinger as the state's new Prime Minister to succeed Teufel, who resigned. On April 29, he was also elected state chairman of the CDU Baden-Württemberg. In the run-up to the federal election in September 2005, Oettinger advocated a radical restructuring of the pension system and a departure from the generation contract from a long-term perspective. In the 2006 state elections, the black-yellow coalition led by Oettinger was able to maintain its majority, although the CDU narrowly missed an absolute majority. On June 14, 2006, the state parliament re-elected him as Prime Minister and chairman of the state government of Baden-Württemberg with 85 votes.
His funeral speech at the state ceremony in Freiburg Cathedral for the funeral of Hans Filbinger on April 11, 2007 caused criticism. Oettinger remarked: "Contrary to what you read in some obituaries, it should be noted: Hans Filbinger was not a National Socialist. On the contrary; he was an opponent of the Nazi regime". Oettinger continues: "It remains to be said: There is no judgment by Hans Filbinger that would have caused a person to lose their life." On April 16, Oettinger stated that he was distancing himself from his own statements. In public rail transport, Oettinger, Federal Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee and railway boss Hartmut Mehdorn agreed on July 19, 2007 to negotiate the new Wendlingen-Ulm line and the "Stuttgart 21" project. Oettinger resigned from his position as Prime Minister on February 10, 2010. On the same day, Stefan Mappus was elected Prime Minister in the Baden-Württemberg state parliament. As a result, Oettinger moved to Brussels as EU Commissioner for Energy.
Günther Oettinger has been married to Inken, née Stange, since 1994, with whom he has a son. On December 9, 2007, the Oettinger couple announced their separation.
