Rudolf Henke
Rudolf Paul Maria Henke (born 5 June 1954) is a physician and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a member of the German Bundestag from 2009 until 2021. Education and early career. Born in Düren, Henke completed his Abitur at the "Stiftisches Gymnasium" in Düren before studying medicine at RWTH Aachen University between 1972 and 1979. The following year, he became assistant physician at St Antonius Hospital in Eschweiler, rising to become a consultant in hematology and oncology in September 1988. Henke has been on the board of directors of the physicians' trade union  Marburger Bund since 1989, becoming chair in 2007. He is a German delegate to the World Medical Association. Political career. Henke joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in 1992 and became a member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia in the 1995 state elections. He remained a member of the parliament until 2009, having been twice re-elected, holding positions on the Committee on Labour, Health and Social Affair and the Committee on Research and Technology. Between 2005 and 2009, he was deputy leader of the CDU parliamentary group. Henke was directly elected to the Bundestag in the Aachen  I constituency in 2009, receiving more votes than incumbent federal health minister Ulla Schmidt in the process. Throughout his time in parliament, he was a member of the Health Committee, serving as deputy chairman of the committee from 2014. Henke was re-elected in 2013. In the negotiations to form a coalition government under the leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, he was part of the working group on health policy, led by Hermann Gröhe, Georg Nüßlein and Malu Dreyer. Other activities. In addition to his political work, Henke holds various positions that have contributed to  making him one of the highest-earning members of the Bundestag, including the following: Political positions. In June 2017, Henke voted against Germany's introduction of same-sex marriage. Ahead of the 2021 Christian Democratic Union of Germany leadership election, Henke publicly endorsed Armin Laschet to succeed Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as the party’s chair. Personal life. Henke is married with four children, and lives in Burtscheid, Aachen. He was deputy chair of the CDU in the city between 1999 and 2013.