Henning Scherf

Who is Henning Scherf?

Henning Scherf is a German lawyer and politician. He was the Mayor of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and President of the Senate of Bremen from 4 July 1995 to 8 November 2005.

After studying law and social sciences from 1958 - 1962 in Berlin, Hamburg and Freiburg he worked for a Protestant students association until 1964. He has been a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany since 1963. In 1968 Scherf received his law doctorate from University of Hamburg.

Scherf went into politics after practicing as a lawyer in Bremen, and was elected to the Bremer Bürgerschaft in 1971. From 1978 until 2005 he was a member of Bremen Senate in various functions, including Senator for Finances, Senator for Youth and Social Issues, Senator for Health and Sport, Mayor, Senator for Education and Sciences and Senator of Law and Constitution. In 1995 Scherf was elected "Präsident des Senats".

He was also the head of the "Vermittlungsausschuss" which resolves conflicts concerning legislation between "Bundesrat" and "Bundestag", the two houses of the German parliament at the federal level.