Political earthquake in Schleswig-Holstein: Ministers resign, new cabinet!

Political earthquake in Schleswig-Holstein: Ministers resign, new cabinet!

There is a lot of movement in the political fray in Schleswig-Holstein. Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) is supplying political minds with a fresh cabinet reshuffle. Today, on November 4, 2025, he announced that Interior Minister Sabine Sütterlin-Waack and Agriculture Minister Werner Schwarz are both resigning, thereby setting a new course for the future.

Sütterlin-Waack, who has been in the cabinet since 2017 - first as Justice Minister and then as Interior Minister from 2020 - had previously signaled that she no longer wanted to remain in office until the next state election in spring 2027. In her place, 38-year-old Magdalena Finke, previously Interior State Secretary, will move into office as the new Interior Minister with aplomb. Finke is considered to be well connected and has been in charge of the police department and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution since 2022. She can be trusted to take an ambitious and future-oriented course, which makes her a promising choice, as ndr.de reports.

Farewell to retirement

At the age of 67, Werner Schwarz, who has headed the Ministry of Agriculture since the state elections in 2022, is also retiring. He is considered a recognized lobbyist for farmers and gained experience as head of the state farmers' association for over 15 years. Taking over for him is 34-year-old Cornelia Schmachtenberg, who previously shone as the agricultural policy spokeswoman for the CDU parliamentary group in the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament. She was recently elected chairwoman of the Women's Union with 100 percent approval, which clearly underlines her political weight. Schmachtenberg is married and brings fresh ideas to the Ministry of Agriculture, which was restructured in the current legislative period after previously being linked to the Ministry of the Environment. Schwarz began this development process in order to make the ministry more efficient.

A cabinet in transition

The upcoming press conference on the cabinet reshuffle is scheduled for 3 p.m. and promises further exciting insights into the future composition of the Schleswig-Holstein cabinet. Daniel Günther, who has been in power since 2017 and has been in power in a black-green coalition together with the Greens since 2022, has put a strong brushstroke in the political painting of Schleswig-Holstein with his cabinet reshuffle. There is certainly great interest in further details, because such changes are of enormous relevance for the CDU's strategy in the run-up to the next state election.

The political course in Schleswig-Holstein will therefore remain exciting. The next few years could be groundbreaking, both for the state government and for the population, who can hopefully expect many positive developments with the planned changes and new approaches.