Klaus Iohannis
Klaus Johannis (born June 13, 1959, in Sibiu) is a Romanian teacher and politician of German ethnicity. Since 2000 he is the mayor of Sibiu (re-elected 2005).
After graduating in physics Johannis worked as a high school teacher and then became school superintendent of Sibiu County. In 2000 the ethnic Germans' party of Sibiu (DFDR, Democratic Forum of the Germans in Romania) decided to run him for mayor. Despite the fact that Sibiu's German minority had shrunken to a mere 1.6 %, Johannis has won two elections in a row. He is the first ethnic German mayor of a Romanian city since Alfred Dörr (served 1940 to 1945).
In his four-year term he managed to trigger the restoration of the town's infrastructure and the tightening of its administration. Throughout his term, Johannis cohabitated with a town council majority of Romanian Social Democrats.
His policies were backed by the population, with Johannis winning the 2004 election with 88.7 % of the vote.
Johannis established important contacts to foreign politicians and investors. Sibiu was declared European Capital of Culture of 2007, together with Luxembourg (the bearer of the distinction in 1995).
On November 4, 2005, Johannis was nominated "Personality of the Year for a European Romania" (Personalitatea anului pentru o Românie europeană) by the Eurolink – House of Europe organization.