3 days ago
Germany's first lady, an active judge, to retire this month
Elke Büdenbender, the wife of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and a judge, is set to retire at the end of this month, she told dpa on Tuesday.
"After 30 years as a judge - including breaks - I will retire in June from the judiciary," Büdenbender told dpa in Berlin.
The 63-year-old said she would continue her duties as Germany's first lady.
"Of course I will continue to accompany my husband in the remaining years of his term and attend to my duties at [the official presidential residence] Bellvue," she added.
Büdenbender's husband, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, was elected German president in 2017.
Büdenbender served as a judge at the Berlin Administrative Court since 2000, but took leave after her husband was elected the 12th German president. He was re-elected for a second term in February 2022.
Büdenbender returned to working part-time at the court in May 2022. She continued to fulfil her role as first lady, albeit it a somewhat reduced form, accompanying her husband less frequently on trips abroad.
"It was a pleasure for me to be able to return to my court for a few more years at the end of my professional career as a judge," Büdenbender said on Tuesday. "The profession of judge is exciting, sometimes challenging, and I have enjoyed doing this job all my professional life."
The couple married in 1995 and have a daughter, according to the presidential website.
In 2010, Steinmeier donated a kidney to his wife, who was suffering from organ failure.
"The donation has given me a life," Büdenbender said in an interview with German magazine BUNTE last year. Due to the disease, she is able to retire earlier.
