Wolfgang Thierse is the current speaker of the Bundestag. He was born on October 22, 1943 in Breslau. He studied at the Humboldt-Universität in Berlin. Later, he worked for the east-german ministry for cultural affairs. In 1989, he joined the Neues Forum. He then joined the SPD in 1990. He subsequently became a member of the Bundestag, and in 1998, after the socialdemocrats had won the general elections, he was elected as speaker of the german Bundestag.