Overview

• Delegates in Leinfelden-Echterdingen formally elected the 35-year-old Schollenberger on July 5 after Martin Gross’s retirement ceremony.
• She succeeds Gross, who led the state branch since 2016 and stepped down at age 64 following nine years in the role.
• Schollenberger rose rapidly from a Deutsche Post letter carrier before serving as Verdi’s youth secretary and then as one of Gross’s deputies.
• Verdi counts more than 200,000 members in Baden-Württemberg and about 1.9 million nationwide, making it Germany’s second-largest union.
• She has pledged to deepen member engagement, forge closer ties with social movement groups and continue using collective bargaining and strikes.