Christian Lindner

Christian Wolfgang Lindner (born 7 January 1979) is a German politician. He is a member of the Bundestag and leader of the liberal Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP).^[1][2] In December 2021, he became the Minister of Finance.

Christian Wolfgang Lindner MdB
Lindner in 2020
Minister of Finance
In office 8 December 2021 – 7 November 2024
Chancellor	Olaf Scholz
Preceded by	Olaf Scholz
Succeeded by	Jörg Kukies
Leader of the Free Democratic Party
In office 7 December 2013 – 23 February 2025
Deputy	Wolfgang Kubicki Nicola Beer Johannes Vogel
General Secretary	Nicola Beer Linda Teuteberg Volker Wissing
Preceded by	Philipp Rösler
Leader of the Free Democratic Party in the Bundestag
In office 24 October 2017 – 7 December 2021
Chief Whip	Marco Buschmann
Deputy	Katja Suding Michael Theurer Stephan Thomae Alexander Graf Lambsdorff Christian Dürr Frank Sitta
Preceded by	Rainer Brüderle (2013)
Succeeded by	Christian Dürr
Leader of the Free Democratic Party in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia
In office 31 May 2012 – 10 October 2017
Preceded by	Gerhard Papke
Succeeded by	Christof Rasche
Leader of the Free Democratic Party in North Rhine-Westphalia
In office 13 May 2012 – 27 November 2017
Preceded by	Daniel Bahr
Succeeded by	Joachim Stamp
General Secretary of the Free Democratic Party
In office 24 December 2009 – 14 December 2011
Leader	Guido Westerwelle Philipp Rösler
Preceded by	Dirk Niebel
Succeeded by	Patrick Döring
Parliamentary constituencies Member of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Incumbent Assumed office 24 October 2017 Preceded by multi-member district Constituency Free Democratic Party List In office 27 October 2009 – 10 July 2012 Preceded by multi-member district Succeeded by Hans-Werner Ehrenberg Constituency Free Democratic Party List Member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia In office 31 May 2012 – 10 October 2017 Preceded by multi-member district Succeeded by Lorenz Deutsch Constituency Free Democratic Party List In office 1 June 2000 – 18 November 2009 Preceded by multi-member district Succeeded by Ute Dreckmann Constituency Free Democratic Party List
Personal details
Born	Christian Wolfgang Lindner (1979-01-07) 7 January 1979 (age 46) Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany
Political party	Free Democratic
Spouse(s)	Dagmar Rosenfeld ​ ​ (m. 2011; div. 2020)​ Franca Lehfeldt ​ (m. 2022)​
Alma mater	University of Bonn (MA)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Germany
Branch/service	Bundeswehr
Years of service	2002–present
Rank	Major
Unit	German Air Force Reserve

On 23 February 2025, Lindner resigned as party leader and announced his retirement from active politics after the FDP lost all of their seats in parliament as a result of the 2025 federal election.^[3] He is widely blamed for the party's massive loss in the Bundestag during the election.^[4]