Helmut Linssen

From June 24, 2005, to July 15, 2010, he was finance minister of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, immediately afterwards federal treasurer of the CDU.

After graduating from the humanistic high school of the district and the city of Geldern in 1961, he completed a commercial apprenticeship in wholesale and foreign trade as well as in import and export in Hamburg.

[citation needed] He represented the Kleve I constituency, which today includes the municipalities of Geldern, Issum, Kalkar, Kerken, Kevelaer, Rheurdt, Straelen, Uedem, Wachtendonk and Weeze.

[citation needed] In the 1995 state elections, he ran as the top candidate against the then Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia and later Federal President Johannes Rau, but was unable to assert himself against him.

[3] From 2000 to 2005 he was 1st Vice President of the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia and Chairman of the Committee on Economics, SMEs and Technology.

Helmut Linssen (2019) with the Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Election poster with Linssen as the top candidate for the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia in 1995