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Martin Brudermüller, born in Stuttgart in 1961, grew up in Karlsruhe. His mother was a housewife, his father a nuclear physicist. At home there was much discussion about natural sciences. Brudermüller wanted to become a surgeon for a while, but then decided to study chemistry. Even as a doctoral student he attended a holiday course for young scientists at BASF. He then applied there and worked his way up to the Board of Executive Directors, which he has chaired since May 2018.

Ingrid Hengster, born in Linz in 1961, has been a member of the Board of Managing Directors of the federal development bank KfW since 2014. There, the doctor of law is currently responsible for Corona Aid, so she must ensure that state support for companies reaches its goal quickly and without complications. Previously, Hengster had management responsibility at various foreign banks, such as the Royal Bank of Scotland and ABN Amro. Recently, she has also been representing the federal government on the supervisory board of Deutsche Bahn.

He has been CEO of Siemens since August 2013. The manager, who grew up in the Bavarian Forest as Josef Kaeser, joined the Munich-based company in 1980 and quickly made a career for himself. From 2006 he was Chief Financial Officer, then he inherited Peter Löscher at the top of the company. Since then, Kaeser has been rebuilding Siemens vigorously, travelling all over the world, meeting heads of state and important customers, and also making a name for himself with political statements. His management contract expires at the beginning of 2021.

She has been ruling Germany since 2005: first as chancellor of a grand coalition, then as chancellor of a fairly small coalition with the FDP, and since 2013 again as head of a grand coalition. She has developed from a domestic reformer to the most important head of government in Europe: respected by many abroad, but also attacked by many in the euro and refugee crisis.

Verena Pausder, born in 1979, is very much in the news. She has just published a new book in which she makes a strong commitment to education and equal opportunities in Germany and calls for better digital equipment in schools. Pausder, who lives with her family in Berlin, has founded several companies, including Fox & Sheep, a provider of apps and online games for children, the majority of which she has sold to the toy manufacturer Haba. Most recently, she was elected to the supervisory board of Comdirect.

Tim Raue, born in 1974, is regarded as Germany's most successful top chef: he runs two Michelin-starred restaurants and is the only one who made it onto the list of the 50 best restaurants in the world with a German restaurant last year. Rough start was hard to imagine: Growing up in poor conditions in Berlin-Kreuzberg, he joined a gang as a teenager and came to the kitchen more or less by chance. There, however, things quickly went uphill for him: chef at 23, "Chef of the Year" and first Michelin star at 33, his own restaurant at 36. The Corona crisis also hit the top restaurateur hard, however, and in the meantime all of his now ten restaurants were closed. Only in the "Tim Raue" they cooked - to take away.

Carla Reemtsma, born in 1998, is responsible for press relations at Fridays for Future Germany. In addition to her commitment to climate protection, she is a youth ambassador for the development aid organization One. After graduating from high school in 2015, she began studying politics and economics in Münster. She describes herself as an antifascist and feminist.

Oliver Zipse, born in 1964, has spent his entire professional life at BMW. So he knows the company very well, which he has been managing there since summer 2019 as Chairman of the Board of Management - and unlike some of his colleagues in the industry, Zipse does not make loud announcements. His management style is binding, albeit tough, and the BMW boss sees himself as a team player. This is how he wants to lead the Munich car manufacturer into the age of modern mobility: calmly, disciplined and with the greatest possible efficiency.