Philipp Rösler Health Minister
Philipp Rösler (r) with Chancellor Angela Merkel and FDP leader Guido Westerwelle ahead of coalition talks. The doctor and head of the FDP party in Lower Saxony is seen as one of the rising stars in German politics.
He is to be appointed health minister in the new coalition government, which is quite a promotion. He was only appointed economy minister in Lower Saxony in March of this year.
He will now be leaving the state government of CDU Governor Christian Wulff (r).
Rösler was born in Vietnam in 1973 and was adopted as a baby by a German couple. He was four years old when his parents divorced and he stayed with his father, a career officer in the German army. In 1992 he joined the German army himself, became a medical officer and studied medicine in Hanover.
During the coalition negotiations with the CDU, he successfull reached a compromise on the issue of health, and so his party boss Westerwelle backed him to be health minister.
The 36-year-old Rösler is father to twin girls. He has been a prominent campaigner for his party (pictured here campaiging for the state elections in Lower Saxony in 2007.)
Rösler has always come across as smart and balanced and has an eye for detail. He has been supported by the party leadership from early on. Here Rösler and FDP colleague Walter Hirche celebrate after they were both placed at the top of the party list for the state elections in 2002.
