Deutsche Bahn may face another senior leadership change, this time at the top of its supervisory board, following earlier changes in the company’s executive management.
According to BILD, current supervisory board chairman Werner Gatzer is expected to leave the post in 2027. His planned successor is Christoph Franz, the former CEO of Lufthansa.
A spokesperson for Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder said Gatzer had already indicated that he would not hold the chairmanship of the supervisory body for the entire electoral period.
The possible change had also been reported earlier by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which wrote in February that Franz was expected to succeed Gatzer. Franz has been a member of Deutsche Bahn’s supervisory board since March. To take over as chairman, he would still have to be elected by the supervisory board of the federally owned rail group.
According to BILD, Gatzer is expected to become the new chairman of Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), replacing Jörg Simon. A BER spokesperson declined to comment on personnel matters, saying that shareholders appoint supervisory board members and that the supervisory board elects its own chairman.
Gatzer, a former State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Finance, became chairman of Deutsche Bahn’s supervisory board in September 2022.
The reported move comes after a separate leadership change at Deutsche Bahn’s executive level. Last autumn, Evelyn Palla was appointed as the new head of Deutsche Bahn, replacing Richard Lutz.
The coalition agreement between CDU/CSU and SPD calls for a reorganisation of both the DB Group and its infrastructure subsidiary DB InfraGO, including changes to supervisory boards and executive boards. The aim is to bring in more professional expertise and streamline the group’s governance.
