Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth

The Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (German: Bundesministerium für Bildung, Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend; abbreviated BMBFSFJ) is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is headquartered in Berlin with a secondary seat in Bonn. The ministry has been headed by Karin Prien since 6 May 2025. History The original organization was first founded in 1953 as the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs (Bundesministerium für Familienfragen). In 1957, this was changed to the Ministry for Family and Youth Affairs (Bundesministerium für Familien- und Jugendfragen) and in 1963 to the Federal Ministry for Family and Youth (Bundesministerium für Familie und Jugend. In 1969 after the incorporation of the Federal Ministry for Health (Bundesministerium für Gesundheit, created in 1961), it was changed to the Federal Ministry for Youth, Family and Health (Bundesministerium für Jugend, Familie und Gesundheit). In 1986, it was renamed to the Federal Ministry for Youth, Family, Women, and Health (Bundesministerium für Jugend, Familie, Frauen und Gesundheit). The area of health was removed in 1991 and transferred to the Federal Ministry for Health. The remaining Ministry was divided into the Federal Ministry for Women and Youth (Bundesministerium für Frauen und Jugend), and the Federal Ministry for Family and Senior Citizens (Bundesministerium für Familie und Senioren). In 1994, these divided areas were recombined into the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend). In the Merz cabinet since 6 May 2025, the education portfolio has been removed from the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space and transferred to the Ministry of Family Affairs. Since then, the ministry has been called the Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Bundesministerium für Bildung, Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend). Organisation Departments With the new assignment of tasks to the BMBFSFJ, the organisation was restructured. According to the organisational chart, which reflects the status as of November 2025, there are nine departments: Department L: Management Department Department Z: Central Services Department G: Principle and Digitalisation Department 1: Democracy and Engagement Department 2: Family Department 3: Women and Equality Department 4: Early and School Education, Educational Research Department 5: Vocational Education and Lifelong Learning Department 6: Intergenerational Justice, Youth, Older People Agencies and commissioners The BMBFSFJ has the following subordinate authorities and commissioners (as of 2025): Federal Office of Family Affairs and Civil Society Functions Independent Federal Commissioner against Sex Abuse of Children and Adolescents Federal Government Commissioner against Antiziganism and for the Life of Sinti and Roma in Germany Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency Federal Government Commissioner for the Acceptance of Sexual and Gender Diversity Federal Agency for Child and Youth Protection in the Media Federal Volunteers Service Federal Ministers Political Party: CDU SPD Green Others The activities of the Ministry were highlighted in media coverage in 2007 when the contents of one of the leaflets it distributed was claimed to encourage sexual massage between parents and their children. The leaflets were removed from circulation when the matter became national news. References External links Official Website (in German) Official Website (in English)