Clontarf native Michelle Wittler has been told she is the first Irish-born mayor to be elected in Germany. “Some people did not like me being mayor, as I’m not German or from the town originally,” she says. She was studying Irish and German in Trinity in 1984 and was told her skills weren’t good. They are a lot stiffer here ... I’m a bit starchy after all this time.”Wittler married a man from the spa town of Bad Ems, the next village to Dasenau. Michelle Wittler and Irish Ambassador in Germany Maeve CollinsPartly because she wasn’t able to vote in elections either in Ireland or Germany, Wittler took dual German-Irish citizenship.

Source: The Irish Times December 15, 2025 01:30 UTC