Helma Orosz ([ˈoros]; born 11 May 1953, in Görlitz) is a German politician and member of the CDU. She was the Saxon State Minister for Social Affairs between 2003 and 2008 and Oberbürgermeister (Lord Mayor) of Dresden from 2008 to 2015.

Helma Orosz
Helma Orosz (2008)
Mayor of Dresden
Assumed office
June 2008
Preceded byIngolf Roßberg
Saxon Minister of Social Affairs
In office
2003–2008
Mayor of Weißwasser
In office
2001–2003
Personal details
Born (1953-05-11) 11 May 1953 (age 71)
Görlitz, Bezirk Dresden, East Germany
CitizenshipGerman
Political partyCDU

Administrative work

edit

Orosz worked as assistant director of a nursery school in Weißwasser since the 1970s. In 1989 she became leader of the district nursery school association, and in 1990 she was appointed head of Weißwasser district's department of health and social services. She kept that position when the district was merged into the Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis.[1]

Political career

edit

Orosz joined the CDU in 2000.[2] She was elected mayor of Weißwasser in 2001. Saxon minister president Georg Milbradt appointed her minister of social affairs in 2003.[1]

In 2008 Orosz was elected mayor of Dresden as a first woman in that function. She received 47.61% of the vote on the first ballot[3] and 64% on the second ballot. Orosz campaigned as a representative of the progressive "urbane" wing of the CDU, in line with mayors Petra Roth of Frankfurt and Ole von Beust of Hamburg.[1]

Orosz supported the construction of the Waldschlösschen Bridge[4] which cost Dresden its status as a World Heritage Site. As a protest against the bridge artist Erika Lust in 2009 created a painting which depicted a bare-breasted Orosz in front of the bridge. Orosz obtained a preliminary injunction against public display of the painting,[5] but the Higher Regional Court of Dresden judged the artistic freedom and the artist's freedom of expression more important than Orosz' personal rights.[6] Orosz did not appeal to the Federal Constitutional Court.[7]

In 2011 Orosz was diagnosed with breast cancer. She received medical treatment for ten months and re-assumed her duties in March 2012.[8]

Other activities

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c Burger, Reiner (23 June 2008). "Helma Orosz soll für frischen Wind sorgen". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German).[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Vita" (in German). Helma-Orosz.de. Archived from the original on 11 June 2008.
  3. ^ "Kommunalwahl in Sachsen: CDU-Sozialministerin Orosz liegt in Dresden vorn". Der Spiegel (in German). 8 June 2008.
  4. ^ "Dresden schlägt die "letzte Chance" aus". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 4 July 2008.
  5. ^ "Lust-Nackt-Gemälde von Helga Orosz sorgt weiter für Streit". Lausitzer Rundschau (in German). 9 April 2010. Archived from the original on 1 January 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  6. ^ "Die Domina-Theorie". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). 16 April 2010.
  7. ^ "Orosz verzichtet bei Nacktbild auf Verfassungsklage". Bild (in German). 20 April 2010.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "OB Helma Orosz kehrt im März ins Amt zurück". Sächsische Zeitung (in German). 22 December 2011. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  9. ^ Board of Trustees Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
edit