Saskia Ludwig: University of Potsdam sees initial suspicion of the accusation of plagiarism

According to allegations of plagiarism against the CDU member of the Bundestag Saskia Ludwig, the University of Potsdam sees an initial suspicion in their doctoral thesis. “It is first checked whether there is a sufficient suspicion. That was affirmed,” said university president Oliver Günther of the German Press Agency. “That is why the responsible bodies are now going to work, and Ms. Ludwig is given the opportunity to comment.”

The “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” reported on July 20 that journalist Jochen Zenthöfer found numerous unconcerned text takeovers when examining Ludwig’s dissertation. The work of 2007 at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Potsdam contained at least 86 not marked on the first 113 pages.

Zenthöfer, also freelancer of the “FAZ”, examined on his own initiative. The plagiarism searcher Stefan Weber wrote after a quick analysis at Portal X that it was not quoted artis (according to the rules of art).

“The desired text passages are checked again, the timelines to which the texts were published are checked in order to come to an overall picture,” said the university president. “The information that was brought to us from the outside, including so -called plagiarism hunters, are included. We also check these again. Something like this can take a few months.”

According to its own statements, the university had received a suspicion notice for Ludwig’s doctoral thesis. The work of 2007 is entitled “The task exposure to state companies in the state of Brandenburg and other selected federal states”. In the first step, the faculty carries out a preliminary examination. A spokeswoman for Ludwig had referred to the exam of the university, but otherwise did not comment in more detail.

The Potsdam CDU politician is considered one of the greatest critics of the SPD constitutional judge Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf. Ludwig had asked for Portal X as long as Plagiatic allegations against the lawyer were not completely cleared, she had to leave her office at the chair. She does not consider Brosius-Gersdorf to be eligible.

In the Union faction, there are reservations against Brosius-Gersdorf, among other things, because of their from the perspective of some MPs to liberal attitudes towards abortions and a positive attitude towards a corona vaccination.

The election of two new judges and a judge for the Federal Constitutional Court was reduced from the agenda in the Bundestag at short notice. Shortly before the meeting, allegations of plagiarism were brought up as an argument against the election of the Potsdam Jura professor. A short report relieved her of the accusation of scientific misconduct.

Ludwig, who received his doctorate as Saskia Funck, was CDU state chief from 2010 to 2012 and from 2004 to 2025 member of the state parliament. She has been a member of the Bundestag since 2025.