Philipp Nimmermann becomes the first Green member of the Bundesbank board

In a sense, Philipp Nimmermann has come full circle. His professional career began at a bank and, after numerous positions as a political official, his path now led him to the German central bank - as the first representative of his party.

Former Economics State Secretary Philipp Nimmermann is the first Green Party politician to join the Bundesbank board. The Federal Council voted for the 60-year-old economist as the successor to Burkhard Balz, who left the central bank at the end of August. The Finance Committee had previously recommended that the Federal Council appoint Nimmermann as Balz's successor.

The board of directors of the central bank wants to determine which areas of responsibility Nimmermann will take on in the six-person management committee of the Deutsche Bundesbank as soon as Nimmermann takes up his office in Frankfurt.

The economist with a doctorate was State Secretary in three ministries, most recently in the Federal Ministry of Economics from 2023 to 2025 under Green Party Minister Robert Habeck with responsibility for energy and climate policy. Before that, the Berlin native, who grew up in Frankfurt, was responsible for promoting Frankfurt as a financial center in the Hessian Ministry of Economics. Nimmermann's first political station was the finance ministry in Schleswig-Holstein, which was then run by the Greens.

Before his time in politics, Nimmermann worked for 15 years at the BHF Bank in Frankfurt, which has since been taken over by the French private bank Oddo, and rose from economist to chief economist at the institute.

The Bundesbank Executive Board consists of six members. The Bundesbank Act stipulates that three boards of directors are appointed by the federal government and the federal states. This time Baden-Württemberg had the right to make proposals. The term of office of the board members is set at eight years.