Political beginnings

Joining the CDU and the Junge Union

Bilger joined the Christian Democratic Union and its youth organisation, the Junge Union (JU), in 1996, while still a pupil at the Max-Born-Gymnasium in Backnang. The JU is the joint youth organisation of the CDU and the Bavarian CSU, open to members aged 14 to 35. Like the party itself it is organised in local, district, state and federal associations, and for many CDU politicians it is the main route into office. His reasons for joining are not recorded in the sources consulted.

The Schüler Union

His first recorded offices were in the Schüler Union, the CDU-aligned association for school students. He was state chair of the Schüler Union Baden-Württemberg in 1998–1999 and national managing director (Bundesgeschäftsführer) of the Schüler Union Deutschlands from 1998 to 2000. These years overlap with his Abitur, his civilian service at the Erlacher Höhe in Backnang and the beginning of his law degree in Tübingen, all described on the early life and education pages.

Junge Union Nordwürttemberg

From 2002 to 2007 Bilger chaired the Junge Union's district association (Bezirksverband) for Nordwürttemberg, the northern part of Württemberg around Stuttgart. Since 2001 he had also been the CDU's substitute candidate for the Landtag constituency of Backnang, a role he kept until 2011. In elections to the Baden-Württemberg Landtag, each constituency candidate stands together with a substitute (Ersatzbewerber, often called the Zweitkandidat), who takes over the seat if the elected member leaves parliament. No source records him ever taking a seat in the Landtag.

Jung-Weikersheim and the 2007 resignation

From 2004 to 2007, according to German Wikipedia, Bilger chaired Jung-Weikersheim, the youth section of the Studienzentrum Weikersheim, a conservative association founded in 1979 by the former Baden-Württemberg Minister-President Hans Filbinger.

In April 2007 Der Spiegel reported, in an article on the wider Filbinger controversy of that spring, that “the chair of the JU Baden-Württemberg, Steffen Bilger” (translation) and two others had given up their board posts at Jung-Weikersheim. They did so to signal their rejection of a planned event with Reinhard Günzel, a former Bundeswehr general who had been dismissed in 2003 after publicly supporting a speech by the CDU MP Martin Hohmann that was widely condemned as antisemitic.

The sources show Bilger distancing himself from that event. They do not record any further statement from him about the Studienzentrum. The episode is also listed on criticism and controversies, where it is presented in the same terms.

Chair of the Junge Union Baden-Württemberg

In 2006 Bilger was elected state chair (Landesvorsitzender) of the Junge Union Baden-Württemberg. He was re-elected in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and remained in office until November 2011, when Nikolas Löbel succeeded him on 12 November. During the same years he completed his legal traineeship, passed the Second State Examination and worked for MVV Energiedienstleistungen in Mannheim; see legal career.

Candidate and member for Ludwigsburg

For the federal election of 27 September 2009 Bilger was the CDU's candidate in the Ludwigsburg constituency, then numbered 265. The seat had been held by Matthias Wissmann (CDU), who won it at every election from 1976 to 2005. The sources consulted for this site do not describe the local nomination process, so no details of it are given here.

Bilger won the constituency with 39.9% of the first votes, the votes cast for a named local candidate under Germany's two-vote system. The SPD candidate, Jan Mönikes, came second with 22.6%. He has held the seat at every election since. The Ludwigsburg and Bundestag career pages continue the story.

Chair of the CDU in Nordwürttemberg

On 1 October 2011, a few weeks before leaving the JU chair, Bilger was elected chair of the CDU Bezirksverband Nordwürttemberg, defeating Dietrich Birk, a former state secretary in the Baden-Württemberg government. Nordwürttemberg is the largest of the CDU's four district associations in Baden-Württemberg. He still holds the post, which marked his move from the youth organisation into the senior party. See CDU career.