Kathrin Hiersemenzel becomes the new head of the Hamburg public prosecutor's office

Kathrin Hiersemenzel becomes the new head of the Hamburg public prosecutor's office

A new era begins in the Hamburg public prosecutor's office! Kathrin Hiersemenzel, an experienced lawyer, was today appointed as the new head of the public prosecutor's office. She is succeeding Mona Rickert, who will in future be responsible for heading Main Department IV for juvenile criminal matters. The changes in the authority come at a time when the public prosecutor's office is confronted with a high number of open cases.

Kathrin Hiersemenzel was born in Hamburg in 1968. After her legal preparatory service, she was appointed as a probationary judge in September 1997 and quickly rose in the Hamburg judiciary. In 2000 she received her appointment as prosecutor for life. Her career has included various important positions, including heading the policy department from 2004 to 2015 and the role as senior public prosecutor since 2010. A focus of her work was the fight against computer crime.

Change of leadership in stormy times

With around 600 employees, the Hamburg public prosecutor's office is the second largest in Germany, right after Berlin. Around 325,000 investigations are processed every year, but recently the authorities counted around 72,000 open cases. To meet this challenge, the Hamburg Senate created 15 new positions this year, including eight for public prosecutors. A further 13 positions are planned for next year, including six for lawyers.

Katrin Hiersemenzel brings a breath of fresh air and extensive experience. Her most recent position was Permanent Representative to the Head of the Authority, a role she has held since January 2024. In this role, she accompanied the important project to “spatially merge and modernize the public prosecutor’s office in the Michaelis-Quartier”. This important project is intended to simplify and modernize the work of the public prosecutor's office.

A look into the future

With the new management, a focus on the digitalization of the public prosecutor's office is also expected. Hiersemenzel was significantly involved in the introduction of electronic legal transactions and electronic file management and will continue to head the IT department. These advances are necessary to meet the ever-increasing demands in the justice system.

The change in leadership in the Hamburg public prosecutor's office is not just a question of personnel. They come at a time when the judiciary is facing major challenges and requires additional resources to be able to process the large number of cases. The coming months will show how Kathrin Hiersemenzel will approach her new tasks in order to lead the authority efficiently.

We are excited about the developments and wish her much success in her new role!

You can find further information about Kathrin Hiersemenzel on the website of hamburg.de and polizei-melden.com find.