Malte Gallée

Malte Gallée is the youngest German Member of the European Parliament. Since January 2022, he has held a seat for the Greens and commutes between Brussels, Strasbourg and his office in Bamberg. He tinkers with European language apps, works on new battery regulations for lower CO2 emissions and realizes one thing above all: “I wanted to do politics for young people, but it's not that easy,” he says.

Tightly scheduled appointments with lobby associations, youth initiatives, plenary sessions and interview preparations - he no longer has the peace and quiet he knew from his twelve bachelor's semesters in Philosophy and Economics in Bayreuth. 

Gallée grew up in Neuselhalden, a village with 28 inhabitants at the foot of the Swabian Alb. His father was a carpenter, his mother a sports teacher at a Waldorf school. Gallée wanted to be the first academic in the family and financed his studies by collecting signatures for Amnesty International in the shopping streets of Germany. In 2018, he ran for the Green Party in Upper Franconia because no one else his age was standing for election. “I want to show that politics is about getting involved, even if it sometimes looks boring,” he says. Almost every day, he posts stories on Instagram, films votes on combustion engines, reports on conversations with lobby associations and tries to show life in the long corridors of the political apparatus.

Wearing a colorful jacket that is older than he is, he stands in the plenary chamber and says: “Fast fashion is a crime against the environment, against the people who produce for us and against all consumers.” Around his neck, his parliamentary ID dangles from a ribbon in rainbow colors. With combative charm, wit and a questioning naivety, he wants to stand out in order to make the world a better place. 

In March 2024, Gallée announced that he would be resigning his seat due to #MeToo allegations.

More stories by Jana Margarete Schuler