Social affairs, integration and the environment

Head of department: Henriette Reker

The Cologne City Council elected Henriette Reker as the new head of the department for social affairs, integration and the environment on 7 October 2010.

Henriette Reker was born on 9 December 1956 in Cologne, where she attended primary school and grammar school. She then studied law, in Cologne, as well as in Regensburg and Göttingen. After sitting the first and second state examinations, she worked at the wood workers' compensation board in Bielefeld from 1990 to 1992, and then at the state association of guild sickness funds in Münster until 2000.

In February 2000, Henriette Reker was appointed an associate of the City of Gelsenkirchen under Lord Mayor at the time, Oliver Wittke. In 2008, she was confirmed for another eight years in office under Lord Mayor Frank Baranowski.

Here, she was responsible for the areas of employment, social affairs, health, and consumer protection. From July to November 2005, she temporarily also took charge of the executive divisions for finance, property management and the fire department, and from August 2009 to May 2010 was once again the manager of the aforementioned finance division and fire department. Despite the city's budget balancing, she was successfully able to develop a modern, efficient hospital centre following the merger of the city children's clinic and the Knappschaftskrankenhaus hospital.

Dezernat V - Soziales, Integration und Umwelt

Kalk Karree
Ottmar-Pohl-Platz 1
51103 Köln
Postfach 10 35 64, 50475 Köln

Telephone: +49 (0)221 / 29000
Telefax: +49 (0)221 / 29047