Jean Asselborn was born on 27 April 1949 in
Steinfort. Asselborn left school in 1967 at the age of 18, and began working in a
Uniroyal plant that same year. It was during this time that he became actively involved in the trade union movement and was elected youth representative of the Federation of Luxembourg Workers (
Lëtzebuerger Aarbechterverband), the precursor to the current
OGBL trade union. In 1968, Asselborn began working for the
Luxembourg City administration as a civil servant, before returning to Steinfort in 1969, where he was also employed as a civil servant for the local administration. Asselborn resumed his secondary studies in 1976, obtaining a
diplôme de fin d’études secondaires from the
Athénée de Luxembourg that same year. Upon obtaining his final secondary school diploma, he became the administrator of the Intercommunal Hospital of Steinfort (
Hôpital intercommunal de Steinfort) in 1976, a post he held until 2004. In October 1981, he was awarded a master's degree in private judicial law from
Nancy 2 University. Asselborn was first sworn in as Mayor of Steinfort in 1982. He served in that position until 2004, when he was appointed to the government. ==In government==