Wulf-Mathies was born in the rural town of Wernigerode in 1942 after her family was evacuated from wartime Hamburg.[3]
Career
In 1971, at the age of 29, Wulf-Mathies joined the then German Chancellor Willy Brandt’s office in Bonn.[4] In the government of ChancellorHelmut Schmidt, she later led the Federal Chancellery’s department of social affairs.[5]
In 1976, Wulf-Mathies left the chancellor’s office to join the managing board of the public service trade union ÖTV. Four years later, and to many observers’ surprise, she was elected as the first woman ever to lead one of Germany's most powerful unions, succeeding Heinz Kluncker. In this capacity, she also served as president of Public Services International (PSI) from 1989 until 1995.
After leaving the European Commission, Wulf-Mathies served as Executive Vice President Head of Corporate Public Policy and Sustainability at Deutsche Post from 2001 until 2009, working under the leadership of the company's CEO Klaus Zumwinkel.[8] From 2009 until 2011 she worked as policy advisor to the Board of Management, this time under Frank Appel.
In 2018, Wulf-Mathies was appointed by intendant Tom Buhrow to lead an internal investigation into allegations of sexual harassment at German public broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR).[9]
When Home Affairs Minister Friedrich Zimmermann published memoirs in which he described trying to dampen her negotiating ardour by putting his hand on her knee, Wulf-Mathies demanded and obtained a retraction of the offending work from circulation.[13][14]
