Claudia Roth turns 70: Green political veteran celebrates her milestone birthday

Claudia Roth (70) has been a prominent figure in the German political landscape for many decades, standing out from the crowd not only for her colorful clothing style, but also for her open and sometimes emotional manner. With her clear positions in debates on human rights, anti-racism, and cultural policy, the alternative political icon of the Green Party has not always made friends during her dazzling career.

Manager of the anarcho band Ton Steine ​​Scherben

Roth, who most recently served as Minister of State for Culture and Media in the traffic light coalition under former Chancellor Scholz, began her career in the cultural sector. After studying theater studies, which she dropped out after just two semesters, the politician, born on May 15, 1955, in Ulm, initially worked as a dramaturge at the Städtische Bühnen in Dortmund from 1975 onwards, and then became involved in the politically active theater group "Hoffmanns Comic Theater" in Berlin.

This project, initiated by the later music legend Rio Reiser (1950-1996), among others, saw itself in the tradition of classic workers' theater and focused on the political agitation of apprentices and other young workers oppressed by capitalism. Another mouthpiece of this highly politicized collective was the political rock band Ton Steine ​​Scherben, founded in 1970, which would go on to make music history with, among other songs, the anarchist anthem "Macht kaputt, was euch kaputt macht" (Destroy What Destroys You).

From 1982 onward, Claudia Roth became the band's manager, which had become heavily indebted due to an excess of unpaid solo concerts and the conceptually minimal entrance fees for their performances. After the band's dissolution in 1985, Rio Reiser successfully embarked on a more commercially oriented second career, while Roth applied for a position as press spokesperson for the Green Party's parliamentary group in the Bundestag, which she promptly secured.

Jump into parliaments

Along her path, Claudia Roth almost by chance entered the political sphere, which propelled her to numerous high offices over the following decades. From 1989 to 1998, she was a member of the European Parliament and, from 1994, chair of the Green Party group in the European Parliament. In 1998, she made the leap to the Bundestag, where she served as federal chairwoman of Alliance 90/The Greens from 2001 to 2002 and from 2004 to 2013.

She then served as Vice President of the German Bundestag until 2021, before finally returning to her cultural roots in Chancellor Scholz's cabinet and serving as Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media until May 6, 2025. Currently, she continues to contribute heart and soul to democratic affairs as the Green Party's spokesperson for economic cooperation and development.

The busy political icon and passionate "pester" revealed to the "Augsburg Journal" how she plans to spend her 70th birthday today. There, she said: "I'm celebrating with friends, companions, and all the wonderful people who have accompanied me over the years. There will be music, good food, and certainly the occasional emotional moment—but I won't reveal any more than that."

SpotOnNews