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Ruth Wagner

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Ruth Wagner
colour photograph showing Wagner's face wearing glasses
Wagner in 2019
Born(1940-10-18)18 October 1940
Riedstadt, Germany
Died28 December 2025(2025-12-28) (aged 85)
Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany
EducationFrankfurt University
Occupations
  • Politician
  • Pedagogue
Organizations
Political partyFDP

Ruth Wagner (18 October 1940 – 28 December 2025) was a German politician for the Free Democratic Party (FDP). She was a member of the Landtag of Hesse from 1978, serving as its vice president twice. She was Hessian minister of culture from 1999 to 2003.

Life and career

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Wagner was born on 18 October 1940 in Riedstadt.[1][2] Her father died as a soldier in World War II, and her mother worked as a seamstress. Her mother convinced her to go for higher education, as the first girl from her village.[1] She completed school with the Abitur at the Gymnasium Gernsheim in 1960.[2] She studied German, history and political science at the Frankfurt University in order to become a teacher.[2][3][4]

Teaching

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Wagner taught at the Viktoriaschule in Darmstadt from 1968 to 1976. She served as deputy president of the Hessischer Philologenverband and Deutscher Lehrerverband Hessen from 1969 to 1975. She worked for the Hessian Institut für Bildungsplanung und Schulentwicklung on planning of school development from 1976 to 1978.[1][2] She was a founding member of the Deutscher Bibliotheksverband in Hesse in 1980.[2]

Politics

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Wagner entered the FDP in 1971.[1][2] In 1977 she became both president of the Darmstadt section of the FDP, serving to 1990, and a member of the board of the FDP in Hesse. She held the position of a city counselor in Darmstadt from 1977 to 1980, 1989 to 1995 and since 2006.[2]

In 1978 Wagner was elected to the Landtag of Hesse, the parliament of the state of Hesse, serving until 1999.[1] She worked as vice president of its commission for public office matters from 1989 to 1991.[2] She was the Landtag's vice president from 1987 to 1991 and again from 2003 to 2008.[1][2] She was from 1987 vice president of the FDP in Hesse, and from 1987 to 1995 to 2005 its president.[1][2] She was a member of the board of the federal FDP from 1988 to 2008.[3]

From 1999 to 2003 she headed the Hessian Ministry of Higher Education, Research and the Arts,[1][5][6] serving as vice president of the minister-president in Hesse during the period. She was instrumental in making the Technische Universität Darmstadt the first independent university, and focused on the autonomy of universities in university laws.[3][7]

Public offices

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Wagner was a founding member of the Rheingau Musik Festival. She was president of a commission for the history of the Jews in Hesse from 2005 to 2011.[2][8] She encouraged the Tag des offenen Denkmals in Hesse.[3] She was president of the Kulturfonds RheinMain until 2017, and president of the Kunstverein Darmstadt until 2020.[9]

Personal life

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Wagner died in Darmstadt on 28 December 2025, at the age of 85.[1][9]

Awards

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Wagner was honoured with the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.[2] The prime minister of Hesse, Volker Bouffier, awarded her the Wilhelm Leuschner Medal [de] of the State of Hesse for merits related to German re-unification on 5 November 2010.[2][10][11]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Grothe, Ewald (30 December 2025). "Bildung, Kunst und Kultur als Herzenssache. Zum Tod von Ruth Wagner". Friedrich Naumann Foundation (in German). Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Ruth Wagner, Abgeordnete 1978–2007, Lehrerin, Politikerin, Ministerin". Hessische Parlamentarismusgeschichte Online (in German). Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d Ruppert, Stefan (16 October 2020). "Freie Demokraten gratulieren Ruth Wagner zum 80. Geburtstag". Free Democratic Party.
  4. ^ "Ruth Wagner". Goethe University Frankfurt.
  5. ^ Kirschstein, Gisela (2 April 2008). "Die Frau, die Roland Kochs Kopf rettete". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 4 January 2026.
  6. ^ "Ruth Wagner | Darmstädter Heinerfest". Darmstädter Heinerfest.
  7. ^ Hetrodt, Ewald (30 December 2025). "Sinn für Kunst und Mut zur Härte". FAZ (in German). Retrieved 5 January 2026.
  8. ^ Heinemann, Hartmut (21 February 2021). "Die Kommission für die Geschichte der Juden in Hessen – Ihre Geschichte und ihre Aufgaben" (PDF). Archivnachrichten (in German). pp. 13–17. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
  9. ^ a b "Frühere FDP-Chefin Ruth Wagner gestorben". hessenschau.de, 29 December 2025 (in German). Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  10. ^ Michael Bußer, Newsletter der Hessischen Landesregierung of 5 November 2010.
  11. ^ Im Dienste der Demokratie – Die Trägerinnen und Träger der Wilhelm Leuschner-Medaille 1965–2011, Hessische Landesregierung, Wiesbaden 2011.

Further reading

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  • Habel, Walter (ed.): "Wagner, Ruth", Wer ist wer? [de] Das deutsche Who's who. 24th edition. Schmidt-Römhild, Lübeck 1985, ISBN 3-7950-2005-0, p. 1297.
  • Lengemann, Jochen: MdL Hessen. 1808–1996. Biographischer Index (= Politische und parlamentarische Geschichte des Landes Hessen. vol. 14 = Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Hessen. vol. 48,7). Elwert, Marburg 1996, ISBN 3-7708-1071-6, p. 395.
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