About Franz Müntefering
Franz Müntefering (German: [ˈmʏntəˌfeːʁɪŋ]; born 16 January 1940) is a German politician. He was Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from 2004 to 2005 and again from 18 October 2008 to 13 November 2009. He served as the minister of Labour and Social Affairs, as well as the vice chancellor of Germany, in the cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2005 to 2007. From 1998 until 1999, Müntefering briefly held the post of Minister of Transportation and Construction in the first cabinet of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Müntefering was the first to hold the new post of SPD Secretary General from 1999 to 2002, and thereafter became leader of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag. Müntefering denied any knowledge of the anonymous donations and launched an internal investigation into all contracts awarded for the construction of waste-disposal facilities in North Rhine-Westphalia in the 1990s. Müntefering became Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs and Vice Chancellor in the cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel on 22 November 2005.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.