The Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (; 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 June 2026, 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 2026):
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:
Name(Born-Died)Portrait Party Term of Office Chancellor(Cabinet) Federal Minister for Family Affairs Federal Minister for Family and Youth Affairs Federal Minister for Family and Youth 1 Franz-Josef Wuermeling(1900–1986) CDU 20 October 1953 13 December 1962 Adenauer(II • III • IV) 2 Bruno Heck(1917–1989) CDU 14 December 1962 2 October 1968 Adenauer (V)Erhard (I • II) Kiesinger (I) 3 Aenne Brauksiepe(1912–1997) CDU 16 October 1968 21 October 1969 Kiesinger(I) Federal Minister for Youth, Family and Health Federal Minister for Youth, Family, Women and Health 4 Käte Strobel(1907–1996) SPD 22 October 1969 15 December 1972 Brandt(I) 5 Katharina Focke(1922–2016) SPD 15 December 1972 14 December 1976 Brandt (II) Schmidt (I) 6 Antje Huber(1924–2015) SPD 16 December 1976 28 April 1982 Schmidt(II • III) 7 Anke Fuchs(1937–2019) SPD 28 April 1982 1 October 1982 Schmidt(III) 8 Heiner Geißler(1930–2017) CDU 4 October 1982 26 September 1985 Kohl(I • II) 9 Rita Süssmuth(1937–2026) CDU 26 September 1985 9 December 1988 Kohl(II • III) 10 Ursula Lehr(1930–2022) CDU 9 December 1988 18 January 1991 Kohl(III) Federal Minister for Family and Senior Citizens18 January 199117 November 1994Kohl(IV) 11a Hannelore Rönsch(b. 1942) CDU Federal Minister for Women and Youth 11b Angela Merkel(b. 1954) CDU Federal Minister for Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth 12 Claudia Nolte(b. 1966) CDU 17 November 1994 26 October 1998 Kohl(V) 13 Christine Bergmann(b. 1939) SPD 27 October 1998 22 October 2002 Schröder(I) 14 Renate Schmidt(b. 1943) SPD 22 October 2002 22 November 2005 Schröder(II) 15 Ursula von der Leyen(b. 1958) CDU 22 November 2005 30 November 2009 Merkel(I) 16 Kristina Schröder(b. 1977) CDU 30 November 2009 17 December 2013 Merkel(II) 17 Manuela Schwesig(b. 1974) SPD 17 December 2013 2 June 2017 Merkel(III) 18 Katarina Barley(b. 1968) SPD 2 June 2017 14 March 2018 Merkel(III) 19 Franziska Giffey(b. 1978) SPD 14 March 2018 20 May 2021 Merkel(IV) 20 Christine Lambrecht(b. 1965) SPD 20 May 2021 8 December 2021 Merkel(IV) 21 Anne Spiegel(b. 1980) Green 8 December 2021 25 April 2022Scholz(I) 22 Lisa Paus(b. 1968) Green 25 April 2022 6 May 2025 Federal Minister for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth 23 Karin Prien(b. 1965) CDU 6 May 2025 Incumbent Merz(I)
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.Franziska Badenschier, Der Spiegel, 2007-07-31. "Körper, Liebe, Doktorspiele": Von der Leyen stoppt umstrittene Aufklärungsbroschüre. Retrieved 2010-11-20. The leaflets were removed from circulation when the matter became national news.
References
External links
Official Website Official Website