Mr Barthle worked for 9 years as a teacher of German and Physical Education at a general education high school. He also served for 2 years as Senior Policy Officer for public relations, then 6 years as Press Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of Baden-Württemberg. He has been directly elected Member of the German Bundestag representing the constituency of Backnang/Schäbisch Gmünd since 1998; member of the budget committee of the German Bundestag since 2002. He was CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group spokesperson for budgetary policy from October 2009 to March 2018 as well as vice-chair of the CDU group of the federal state Baden-Württemberg. He was appointed Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Transport and Digital Infrastructure from February 2015 until March 2018. In March 2018, he was appointed Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development.