Born in Rostock, Eva-Maria Kröger studied political science and public law in Rostock and Tübingen. In the spring of2009, she was elected to the Rostock city council and led the DIE LINKE group there for 13 years. From 2016 she was amember of the state parliament of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In February 2023, she became the first mayor of theHanseatic and university city of Rostock.