After the Peaceful Revolution, he entered politics, serving in the Volkskammer and as a senior adviser to Minister-President Lothar de Maizière.

[4] In 1982, he began to work at his alma mater, Wismar Technology University,[4] and was promoted to the professorship in computer science.

[7] He served as state secretary and the chief reunification negotiator for East Germany's only freely elected government headed by Lothar de Maizière.

[11] Krause resigned from the office on 6 May 1993 after his alleged involvement in scandals,[8][12] and was replaced by Matthias Wissmann, another CDU member, in the post.

He also lived in a luxury mansion without pay for over a year and was involved in other cheating scandals, such as an unreturned kitchen purchase.

[14][15][16] In 2020, he entered the 14th season of the TV reality show, Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!, the German version of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, filmed in Australia, but had to withdraw for medical reasons after one day.