Otte was born on 27 October 1968 in Celle, Lower Saxony. After taking his A levels (Abitur) in the Christian Gymnasium in Hermannsburg Otte did his military service as a short service volunteer with the Bundeswehr and also underwent training as a reserve officer. Subsequently, he passed his training as a banker with Sparkasse Celle before studying law at the University of Hamburg. Otte was last employed as a company lawyer (Prokurist) in a medium-sized steel construction firm.
Henning Otte is protestant, married and a father of four.[1]
Political career
Otte joined the CDU in 1994 and has belonged since 1999 to the board of the CDU district association in Celle. Since 2006 he has been a member of the board of the European People's Party (EVP) and since 2007 deputy chairman of the CDU District Association of Northeast Lower Saxony.
Since 1996 Otte has been a town councillor (Stadtrat) for Bergen, a parish councillor (Ortsrat) for Eversen and a member of the district council (Kreistag) for the district or county of Celle. He is currently the deputy head of the district authority (Landrat) for the district of Celle.
In parliament, Otte is a member of the Defence Committee and deputy member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He is currently the CDU/CSU defence policy spokesman in the Bundestag.
In addition to his committee assignments, Otte has been a member of the German delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly since 2014, where he is part of the Defence and Security Committee.[2] Between 2009 and 2013, he was also part of the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with the Baltic States as well as of the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with the States of South America. Since 2019, he has been a member of the German delegation to the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly.[3]