Eckart von Klaeden was born on November 18, 1965 in Hanover and is a lawyer. He was a member of the German Bundestag from 1994 – 2013. As a Member of Parliament, he held various positions: from 2000 – 2005 as parliamentary director, from 2005 – 2009 as foreign policy spokesperson for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag and from 2006 – 2010 as treasurer of the CDU. As of 2004, he was a member of the CDU’s Federal Executive Committee, and from 2006 – 2013 he also served as a member of the Presidium. From 2009 – 2013 he was Minister of State at the Office of the Federal Chancellor.
On November 1, 2013, Eckart von Klaeden joined Daimler AG – now Mercedes-Benz Group AG – and has been Head of External Affairs ever since. In his current position, he is responsible for the Group´s external relations and political dialogue worldwide. Eckart von Klaeden reports directly to the Chairman of the Board of Management, Ola Kaellenius.