Michael Müller, the Governing Mayor of Berlin, was born in Berlin in 1964. He finished secondary school in 1982, followed by a business apprenticeship and a specialized upper secondary school for business and administration. From 1986 to 2011, he worked as a self-employed printer.

Michael Müller joined the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1981. From 1991 to 2000, he was chair of his local SPD chapter, and from 1989 to 1996, he was a member of Berlin-Tempelhof borough assembly, finishing his time there as the head of the SPD party group. He was also a delegate to the district and state party conventions. From 2000 to 2004, he was chair of the Tempelhof-Schöneberg SPD. In 2004, Michael Müller became chair of the SPD in the federal state of Berlin, a post that he held until 2012 and to which he was re-elected in 2016.

Elected a Member of the Berlin House of Representatives in 1996, Michael Müller has served in this capacity ever since. From 2001 to 2011, he also chaired the SPD parliamentary group in the Berlin House of Representatives.

In 2011, he was appointed Senator for Urban Development and the Environment and Mayor of Berlin. On 11 December 2014, Michael Müller became Governing Mayor of Berlin and has held this office ever since. From 2014 to 2016, he was also Senator for Culture; in 2016, he became Senator for Higher Education and Research. Michael Müller was President of the German Federal Council from 1 November 2017 to 31 October 2018 and has been President of the international city network Metropolis since August 2018.