Valerie Wilms’ book Meine zwei Leben: Als Junge geboren – als Frau im Bundestag (My Two Lives: Born a Boy – as a Woman in the Bundestag) is both a personal memoir and a political statement that challenges the direction of modern gender politics in Germany. Written with striking candor, it is the first time that Wilms, a former member of the Bundestag, publicly shares her life story and her experience as a transgender woman in politics. More than a simple autobiography, the book raises difficult questions about identity, authenticity, and the balance between personal freedom and social responsibility.
Born in 1954 in Hannover as Volker Wilms, Valerie Wilms built a distinguished career long before entering politics. She studied mechanical engineering at the University of Hannover and earned her doctorate in engineering from the University of the Bundeswehr in Hamburg. Her professional path was firmly rooted in technical expertise rather than activism. She worked in design engineering and later as a technical inspector for the railway industry before becoming a lecturer at the Dresden University of Applied Sciences. This solid technical background formed the foundation of her political career, which began when she joined the Green Party in 2005.
