Federal Minister of Defense
SPD politician loves SPD politician: Boris Pistorius married his partner
She has accompanied him on several public occasions: Boris Pistorius and his partner Julia Schwanholz at the premiere of the Nibelungen Festival in Worms
© Eventpress / Imago Images
As Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius has quickly become Germany’s most popular politician. Even his former partner praises him highly. Now the man from Lower Saxony has married the woman at his side.
Pistorius, 63, and Schwanholz, who is around 20 years younger, are both in the SPD. The political scientist is known in Osnabrück, Pistorius’s hometown, as chairwoman of the Working Group of Social Democratic Women. She is an academic advisor at the Institute for Political Science at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Her areas of expertise include parliamentary and democracy research with a focus on digital transformation.
Boris Pistorius is popular in the country
Pistorius from Lower Saxony – who was the state’s interior minister until he took office at the head of the defense department a good year ago – and Schwanholz appeared together in public more than a year ago. In the state elections in October 2022, they came together to the state parliament in Hanover. Pistorius’ first wife died in 2015 and there was a separation from Doris Schröder-Köpf in 2022.
As Defense Minister, Pistorius quickly became the most popular politician in Germany in surveys. With a hands-on and genuine manner, he quickly gained recognition. He is repeatedly seen as a kind of reserve chancellor for the SPD if Olaf Scholz cannot turn things around. Pistorius himself emphasizes that he still has a lot planned as defense minister.
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Schröder-Köpf publicly praised Pistorius’ character highly last year. “He is the perfect combination of experience and openness, grounding and imagination, a sense of responsibility and generosity,” wrote the then 59-year-old in a guest article for “Bild” in April under the headline “That’s why everyone loves Boris.” “He leaves behind neither politically nor privately scorched earth. He has strong opinions and leadership, the women in the Defense Ministry can rely on him to see their interests and promote their talents,” Schröder-Köpf continued.
In the post she reveals that he also has “(a few, small) weaknesses”, for example when it comes to sweets. “I learned from him that there is a ‘dessert stomach’ – especially for meringues and tiramisu.”