Mario Mettbach (24 July 1952 – 2021 or 2022) was a German politician from Hamburg and a representative of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Party for a Rule of Law Offensive.

Mario Mettbach
MdHB a. D. Senator a. D. MdBR a. D.
Second Mayor of Hamburg
In office
19 August 2003 – 17 March 2004
First MayorOle von Beust
Preceded byRonald Schill
Succeeded byBirgit Schnieber-Jastram
Senator of Construction and Transport of Hamburg
In office
31 October 2001 – 17 March 2004
First MayorOle von Beust
Preceded byEugen Wagner (Construction)
Succeeded byMichael Freytag (Urban Development and the Environment)
Chairman of the Party for a Rule of Law Offensive
In office
6 December 2003 – February 2004
Preceded byRonald Schill
Succeeded byMarkus Wagner
Member of the Hamburg Parliament
In office
10 October 2001 – 17 March 2004
Preceded bymulti-member district
Succeeded bymulti-member district
ConstituencyParty for a Rule of Law Offensive List
Personal details
Born(1952-07-24)24 July 1952
Hamburg, West Germany
(now Germany)
Died2021 or 2022 (aged 69)
Political partyCDU (1980–1993; 2005–)
Other political
affiliations
Party for a Rule of Law Offensive (2000–2004)
Statt Party (1993–1998)
ResidenceThailand
Alma materFachschule des Heeres für Erziehung und Wirtschaft

Biography

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Mettbach was born on 24 July 1952 in Hamburg. After his apprenticeship as a shipping clerk (1967–70), Mettbach joined the German army in 1974 and studied business management at the German army economy college in Darmstadt (1980–82).[1]

Mettbach began his political career in the CDU which he joined in 1980. He was founding member of the Statt Party in 1993 and later joined the Law and Order Offensive Party of Ronald Schill.[1][2]

From August 2001 to March 2004, he was the senator (equivalent of a minister) of construction and transport, and additionally Second Mayor of Hamburg from August 2003 to March 2004, replacing his dismissed party leader Schill.[1][3] Mettbach was criticised for appointing his domestic partner as his personal assistant, arguing that he would not trust a stranger in this position.[2] In Spring 2003, Mettbach was elected federal chairman of the Party for a Rule of Law Offensive, succeeding Schill, who continued to be leader of the Hamburg state party. In December 2003 the party split when the federal board (chaired by Mettbach) removed Schill from his position as chairman of the state party and later even expelled him from the party.

After losing the election in 2004, Mettbach abandoned the Party for a Rule of Law Offensive and returned to the CDU in March 2005. He worked as a management consultant and was on the supervisory board of the Hamburg Port Authority. In Spring 2006 the state-owned Hamburg business development corporation HFW hired him as a consultant. The opposition attributed his choice to his political links. He had to relinquish this mandate in May of the same year, when connections to a criminal businessman became public. In 2007, he attempted suicide.[4]

On 1 April 2022, the Senate of Hamburg announced that Mettbach had died at the age of 69.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Mario Mettbach". Munzinger (in German). Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Zitat". Der Spiegel (in German). 28 January 2002. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  3. ^ "Hamburg's conservative government collapses after another farce". City Mayors Archive. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
  4. ^ "Mettbach: Selbstmordversuch". Hamburger Abendblatt (in German). 6 January 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  5. ^ "Ehemaliger Zweiter Bürgermeister Mettbach gestorben". NDR (in German). 1 April 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022.