Angela Merkel

Extracted Attributes

• Father

  Horst Kasner

• Mother

  Herlind Kasner (née Jentzsch)

• Spouse

  Joachim Sauer

• Full Name

  Angela Dorothea Merkel

• Birth Name

  Angela Dorothea Kasner

• Office Held

  Chancellor of Germany (2005-11-22 to 2021-12-08)

• Date of Birth

  1954-07-17

• Place of Birth

  Hamburg, West Germany

• Political Party

  Christian Democratic Union (CDU)

• University Education

  Physics degree, Karl Marx University (Leipzig University), 1978

• Highest Academic Degree

  Doctorate in Quantum Chemistry (1986)

• Refusal of Stasi Recruitment

  Approached by East German secret police to become an informant and refused

• Number of Terms as Chancellor

  4 terms

Timeline

• Born in Hamburg, West Germany, before moving to East Germany in infancy. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1954-07-17

• Completed physics studies at Karl Marx University in Leipzig. (Source: Bundesregierung CV)

  1978-01-01

• Awarded a doctorate in quantum chemistry from the Academy of Sciences in East Berlin. (Source: Bundesregierung CV)

  1986-01-01

• Entered politics after the fall of the Berlin Wall by joining Democratic Awakening (Demokratischer Aufbruch). (Source: Bundesregierung CV)

  1989-01-01

• Elected to the German Bundestag representing Mecklenburg-Vorpommern following German reunification. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1990-12-01

• Appointed Federal Minister for Women and Youth under Chancellor Helmut Kohl. (Source: Britannica)

  1991-01-01

• Appointed Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. (Source: Bundesregierung CV)

  1994-01-01

• Elected General Secretary of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). (Source: Britannica)

  1998-11-07

• Married chemistry professor Joachim Sauer. (Source: Britannica)

  1998-12-30

• Elected Chairwoman and Leader of the CDU, becoming the first woman to lead a major German political party. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2000-01-01

• Became Leader of the Opposition and Chairwoman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. (Source: Bundesregierung CV)

  2002-01-01

• Sworn in as the first female Chancellor of Germany, heading a grand coalition. (Source: Bundesregierung CV)

  2005-11-22

• Served as President of the European Council and played a central role in negotiating the Treaty of Lisbon. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2007-01-01

• Blocked the accession process of Ukraine and Georgia into NATO at the Bucharest summit. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2008-04-01

• Adopted an open-door policy during the European migrant crisis, resulting in over 1,000,000 migrants entering Germany. (Source: Britannica)

  2015-01-01

• Stepped down as leader of the CDU and announced she would not seek reelection as Chancellor. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2018-01-01

• Stepped down after 16 years as Chancellor of Germany, concluding her final term. (Source: Investopedia)

  2021-12-01

Angela Merkel

Angela Dorothea Merkel (née Kasner; born 17 July 1954) is a German stateswoman and retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office and the only former East German. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 2000 to 2018. Merkel was born in Hamburg in West Germany. Her family moved to East Germany when she was an infant. A member of the communist East German Free German Youth (FDJ), Merkel obtained a doctorate in quantum chemistry in 1986 and worked as a research scientist until 1989. She then entered politics in the wake of the Revolutions of 1989, briefly serving as deputy spokeswoman for the first democratically elected government of East Germany, led by Lothar de Maizière. Following German reunification in 1990, Merkel was elected to the Bundestag for the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. As the protégée of Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Merkel was appointed as Minister for Women and Youth in 1991, later becoming Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in 1994. After the CDU lost the 1998 federal election, Merkel was elected general secretary of the party. She then became the party's first female leader, and the first female leader of the Opposition, two years later. Following the 2005 federal election, Merkel was elected chancellor, leading a grand coalition consisting of the CDU, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). She was the first woman to be elected chancellor, and the first chancellor of reunified Germany to have been raised in the former East Germany. In the 2009 federal election, the CDU obtained the largest share of the vote, and Merkel subsequently formed a coalition government with the Free Democratic Party (FDP), an alliance more favourable to the CDU than the grand coalition. In the 2013 federal election, the CDU won a landslide victory and formed a second grand coalition with the SPD, after the FDP lost all of its representation in the Bundestag. In the 2017 federal election, Merkel led the CDU to become the largest party for the fourth time, resulting in the formation of a third grand coalition with the SPD. In foreign policy, Merkel emphasised international cooperation, both in the context of the EU and NATO, and initiating the Russian reset and strengthening of Eurasian and transatlantic economic relations. In the first half of 2007, Merkel served as president of the European Council and played a central role in the negotiation of the Treaty of Lisbon and the Berlin Declaration. Merkel's governments managed the 2008 financial crisis and the Euro area crisis. She negotiated the 2008 European Union stimulus plan, which focused on infrastructure spending and public investment to counteract the Great Recession. Also in 2008, she actively blocked the access of Ukraine and Georgia in the enlargement of NATO during the 2008 Bucharest summit. In domestic policy, Merkel's Energiewende programme supported the development of renewable energy sources and eventually phased out the use of nuclear power in Germany. Despite the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, which prompted sanctions around the world, she initiated the construction of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipelines to Russia and protected their construction from United States sanctions imposed in 2019. Reforms to the Bundeswehr, health care reform, the 2010s European migrant crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic were major issues during her chancellorship. Merkel stepped down as leader of the CDU in 2018 and did not seek a fifth term as chancellor in the 2021 federal election. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, her legacy came under increased scrutiny both in Germany and abroad for her relatively good relations with Russia and increasing the German economy's dependence on Russia, as well as the downsizing of the Bundeswehr that occurred during her tenure.

Web Search Results

• Angela Merkel - Wikipedia

  ## Background and early life ") uniform See also: Family of Angela Merkel Merkel was born Angela Dorothea Kasner in 1954, in the Eimsbüttel "Eimsbüttel (quarter)") quarter of Hamburg, the daughter of Horst Kasner (1926–2011; né Kaźmierczak), a Lutheran pastor and a native of Berlin, and his wife Herlind (1928–2019; née Jentzsch), born in Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland), a teacher of English and Latin. She has two younger siblings, Marcus Kasner, a physicist, and Irene Kasner, an occupational therapist. In her childhood and youth, Merkel was known among her peers by the nickname "Kasi", derived from her last name Kasner.[page needed] Merkel is of German and Polish descent. Her paternal grandfather, Ludwik Kasner, was a German policeman of Polish ethnicity. After being captured in France during World War I, he joined the Blue Army "Blue Army (Poland)") and likely fought against Germany. He married Merkel's grandmother Margarethe, a German from Berlin, and relocated to her hometown where he again worked in the police. In 1930, they Germanised the Polish name Kaźmierczak to Kasner. Merkel's maternal grandparents were the Danzig politician Willi Jentzsch and Gertrud Alma (née Drange), a daughter of the city clerk "Clerk (municipal official)") of Elbing (now Elbląg, Poland) Emil Drange. Since the mid-1990s, Merkel has publicly mentioned her Polish heritage on several occasions and described herself as a quarter Polish, but her Polish roots became better known as a result of a 2013 biography.Religion played a key role in the Kasner family's migration from West Germany to East Germany. Merkel's paternal grandfather was originally Catholic but the entire family converted to Lutheranism during the childhood of her father, who later studied Lutheran theology in Heidelberg and Hamburg. In 1954, when Angela was just three months old, her father received a pastorate at the church in Quitzow?action=edit&redlink=1 "Quitzow (Perleberg) (page does not exist)") [de "de:Quitzow (Perleberg)")] (a district of Perleberg in Brandenburg), which was then in East Germany. The family moved to Templin and Merkel grew up in the countryside 90 km (56 mi) north of East Berlin.In 1968, Merkel joined the Free German Youth (FDJ), the official communist youth movement sponsored by the ruling Marxist–Leninist Socialist Unity Party of Germany. Membership was nominally voluntary, but those who did not join found it difficult to gain admission to higher education. She did not participate in the secular coming-of-age ceremony Jugendweihe, however, which was common in East Germany. Instead, she was confirmed#Lutheran_view "Confirmation (sacrament)"). During this time, she participated in several compulsory courses on Marxism–Leninism, with her grades only being regarded as "sufficient". Merkel later said that "Life in the GDR was sometimes almost comfortable in a certain way, because there were some things one simply couldn't influence." Merkel learned to speak Russian fluently at school, and she was awarded prizes for her proficiency in Russian and mathematics, being at the top of her class in these subjects. She completed her school education with the best possible average Abitur grade of 1.0. ## Academic career Merkel continued her education at Karl Marx University, Leipzig, where she studied physics from 1973 to 1978. While a student, she participated in the reconstruction of the ruin of the Moritzbastei, a project students initiated to create their own club and recreation facility on campus. Such an initiative was unprecedented in the GDR of that period, and initially resisted by the university. With the backing of the local leadership of the SED party, the project was allowed to proceed. [...] Merkel was portrayed by Swiss actress Anna Katarina in the 2012 political satire film The Dictator. Merkel features as a main character in two of the three plays that make up the Europeans Trilogy (Bruges, Antwerp, and Tervuren) by Paris-based UK playwright Nick Awde: Bruges (2014) and Tervuren (2016). A character named Merkel, accompanied by a sidekick called Schäuble, also appears as the sinister female henchman in Michael Paraskos's novel In Search of Sixpence. On the American sketch-comedy series Saturday Night Live, Merkel has been parodied by Kate McKinnon. On the British sketch-comedy Tracey Ullman's Show, comedian Tracey Ullman has parodied Merkel to international acclaim. In 2016, a documentary film Angela Merkel – The Unexpected was produced by Broadview TV and MDR in collaboration with Arte and Das Erste. In 2024, a German TV show called 'Miss Merkel' reimagined her as a detective. It is based on the bestselling novels by German writer David Safier and is a comedy that was a hit in Germany and then shown on public broadcaster RAI, dubbed into Italian. ## See also Public image of Angela Merkel Willkommenskultur ## Explanatory notes 1. ↑ German pronunciation: ( "Help:IPA/Standard German") ⓘ 2. ↑ The English pronunciation of her first name could be /ˈɑːŋɡələ/ AHNG-gə-lə (a closer approximation of the German) or /ˈæŋɡələ/ ANG-gə-lə. The English pronunciation of her last name is either /ˈmɛərkəl/ MAIR-kəl (reported for American English and a closer approximation of the German) or /ˈmɜːrkəl/ MUR-kəl (reported for British English by the Oxford and Merriam-Webster dictionaries, which base their editing on actual usage rather than recommendations). In German, her last name is pronounced ( "Help:IPA/Standard German"), and her first name is pronounced ( "Help:IPA/Standard German") or ( "Help:IPA/Standard German"), but according to her biographer Langguth, Merkel prefers the latter pronunciation, with stress on the second syllable. 3. ↑ This is significant in so far as East Germany has remained economically and socially disadvantaged post-reunification. See also Economic history of the German reunification and New states of Germany. 4. ↑ Although some previous governments had been led by the SPD, this was the first government to contain only left-wing parties. 5. ↑ In the electoral system of Germany, "first votes" are cast for a constituency-level local representative, i.e. an individual, whereas "second votes" are cast for a party. ## References1. ↑ "Angela Merkel: Her bio in brief". The Christian Science Monitor. 20 September 2013. Archived from the original on 29 November 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2018. 2. ↑ "Merkel, Angela" Archived 7 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine (US) and "Merkel, Angela". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 10 February 2020. 3. ↑ "Merkel". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. OCLC "OCLC (identifier)") 1032680871. Retrieved 7 April 2019. 4. ↑ Wells, J. C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Pearson Education Limited. 5. ↑ Mangold, Max, ed. (1995). Duden, Aussprachewörterbuch (in German) (6th ed.). Dudenverlag. p. 501. ISBN "ISBN (identifier)") 978-3-411-20916-3. Merkel ˈmɛrkl̩ 6. ↑ Krech, Eva-Maria; Stock, Eberhard; Hirschfeld, Ursula; Anders, Lutz Christian; et al., eds. (2009). Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch (1st ed.). Walter de Gruyter. p. 739. ISBN "ISBN (identifier)") 978-3-11-018202-6. Merkel mˈɛʶkl̩ 7. ↑ Mangold, Max, ed. (1995). Duden, Aussprachewörterbuch (in German) (6th ed.). Dudenverlag. p. 139. ISBN "ISBN (identifier)") 978-3-411-20916-3. Angela ˈaŋɡela auch: aŋˈɡeːla. 8. ↑ Langguth, Gerd (2005). Angela Merkel (in German). Munich: dtv. p. 50. ISBN "ISBN (identifier)") 3-423-24485-2. Merkel wollte immer mit der Betonung auf dem 'e' Angela genannt werden. (Merkel always wanted her first name pronounced with the stress on the 'e'.) [...] Clark, Claudia. Dear Barack: The Extraordinary Partnership of Barack Obama and Angela Merkel (2021) Crossley-Frolick, Katy A. "Domestic Constraints, German Foreign Policy and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding." German Politics and Society 31.3 (2013): 43–75. Czuczka, Tony and Alan Crawford. Angela Merkel: A Chancellorship Forged in Crisis (2013) excerpt Ferree, Myra Marx. "Angela Merkel: What Does It Mean to Run as a Woman?" German Politics & Society 2006. 24#78: 93–107. online Faas, Thorsten. "The German federal election of 2013: Merkel's triumph, the disappearance of the liberal party, and yet another grand coalition." West European Politics 38.1 (2015): 238–247. Kornelius, Stefan. Angela Merkel: The Chancellor and Her World: The Authorized Biography (Alma Books, 2014). Marton, Kati. The Chancellor: The Remarkable Odyssey of Angela Merkel (Simon & Schuster, 2021) Masch, Lena, and Oscar W. Gabriel. "How Emotional Displays of Political Leaders Shape Citizen Attitudes: The Case of German Chancellor Angela Merkel." German Politics 29.2 (2020): 158–179. Mills, Cliff. Angela Merkel (2008), for middle schools online Mushaben, Joyce Marie. "The Best of Times, the Worst of Times: Angela Merkel, the Grand Coalition, and 'Majority Rule' in Germany." German Politics and Society 34.1 (2016): 1–25. Mushaben, Joyce Marie. Becoming Madam Chancellor: Angela Merkel and the Berlin Republic (2017) excerpt Mushaben, Joyce Marie. "A Spectre Haunting Europe: Angela Merkel and the Challenges of Far-Right Populism." German Politics and Society 38.1 (2020): 7–29.Mushaben, Joyce Marie. "The reluctant feminist: Angela Merkel and the modernization of gender politics in Germany." Femina Politica–Zeitschrift für feministische Politikwissenschaft 27.2 (2018): 83–95. online Qvortrup, Matthew. Angela Merkel: Europe's most influential leader (2016) excerpt Saalfeld, Thomas. "Coalition Governance under Chancellor Merkel's Grand Coalition: A Comparison of the Cabinets Merkel I and Merkel II." German Politics and Society 28.3 (2010): 82–102. Schramm, Julia. Fifty Shades of Merkel. (Hoffmann & Campe, 2016), ISBN "ISBN (identifier)") 978-3-455-50410-1 Schnee, Christian. "Sticking to her guns or going with the flow: assessing rigidity and flexibility in Angela Merkel's political decision making." German Politics and Society 37.1 (2019): 24–46. Schoen, Harald. "Merely a referendum on Chancellor Merkel? Parties, issues and candidates in the 2009 German federal election." German Politics 20.1 (2011): 92–106. Schoen, Harald, and Robert Greszki. "A Third Term for a Popular Chancellor: An Analysis of Voting Behaviour in the 2013 German Federal Election." German Politics 23.4 (2014): 251–267. Skard, Torild (2014) "Angela Merkel" in Women of Power – Half a Century of Female presidents and Prime Ministers Worldwide, Bristol: Policy Press, ISBN "ISBN (identifier)") 978-1-4473-1578-0 Van Halsema, Catherine. 2019. "Merkel the Mutti? A Linguistic Analysis of Domestic Language in European News Media Coverage of Angela Merkel." Women & Language. 42(1): 7–22.Voigt, Linda. "Get the party started: The social policy of the grand coalition 2013–2017." German Politics 28.3 (2019): 426–443. Zehfuss, Maja. "'We Can Do This': Merkel, Migration and the Fantasy of Control." International Political Sociology 15.2 (2021): 172–189.

• Angela Merkel | Women's Studies and Feminism

  RESEARCH STARTER # Angela Merkel Angela Merkel is a prominent German politician who served as Germany's first female chancellor from 2005 to 2021, leading the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party. Born on July 17, 1954, in Hamburg, she grew up in East Germany, gaining a strong academic background in physics and earning a doctorate in quantum chemistry. Merkel entered politics after the fall of the Berlin Wall and quickly rose through the ranks of the CDU, eventually becoming its leader in 2000. Known for her pragmatic and methodical approach to governance, she played a crucial role in navigating Germany through significant challenges, including the eurozone debt crisis and the migrant crisis of the 2010s. Merkel's tenure was marked by her influential role in the European Union, where she became a key figure in shaping policies and responses to various crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite facing political challenges and a polarized public, she secured four terms in office, demonstrating resilience and adaptability. Upon leaving office, Merkel garnered attention for her contributions to international cooperation and her status as one of the world's most powerful women. She continues to be a subject of public interest, with ongoing discussions about her legacy and influence on global politics. Authored By: Kivak, Rebecca 1 of 4 Authored By: Kivak, Rebecca Published In: 2024 2 of 4 Published In:2024 Related Topics: 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine;Berlin Wall;Brexit negotiations;Euro (currency);European migrant crisis;Euroscepticism (EU-scepticism);Germany;Helmut Kohl;Margaret Thatcher;Stasi;The Global Financial Crisis of 2007-2010;Vladimir Putin 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine;Berlin Wall;Brexit negotiations;Euro (currency);European migrant crisis;Euroscepticism (EU-scepticism);Germany;Helmut Kohl;Margaret Thatcher;Stasi;The Global Financial Crisis of 2007-2010;Vladimir Putin 3 of 4 Related Articles: Alternative for Germany: Reconfiguring German Democracy.;Legacies of Leadership: Assessing Angela Merkel's Role in Foreign Relations and the European Union through a Gender-Sensitive Lens.;Party System Development in Times of Globalization: A Spatial Perspective.;Rallying Around or Keeping Distance?: Reactions to Angela Merkel's Coronavirus Address to the Nation in Print and Social Media.;The Twentieth Century in Basic Concepts: A Dictionary of Historical Semantics in Germany. Alternative for Germany: Reconfiguring German Democracy.; Legacies of Leadership: Assessing Angela Merkel's Role in Foreign Relations and the European Union through a Gender-Sensitive Lens.; Party System Development in Times of Globalization: A Spatial Perspective.; Rallying Around or Keeping Distance?: Reactions to Angela Merkel's Coronavirus Address to the Nation in Print and Social Media.; The Twentieth Century in Basic Concepts: A Dictionary of Historical Semantics in Germany. 4 of 4 ## Full Article Angela Merkel became Germany’s first female chancellor and one of the world’s most powerful leaders, serving four terms from 2005 to 2021 after assuming leadership of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) political party in 2000. Known for her focus on international cooperation, Merkel helped shape the European Union (EU) and played a key role in brokering a crucial euro bailout during the eurozone debt crisis. She also steered Germany through global events such as the migrant crisis of the 2010s and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, earning a reputation for strong and stable leadership. ### Background Angela Merkel was born Angela Dorothea Kasner on July 17, 1954, in Hamburg, in what was West Germany at the time. Her father, Horst Kasner, was a Lutheran pastor, and her mother, Herlind Kasner, was an English teacher. Her brother, Marcus, was born in 1957, and her sister, Irene, was born in 1964. A few weeks after Merkel’s birth, her father moved the family to the then German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. Seven years later, the Berlin Wall was built. Growing up under communism in the town of Templin, Merkel learned to be wary of the Stasi, or secret police. Merkel was an excellent student, especially in Russian, math, and science. As a teenager, she joined a socialist youth organization, Freie Deutsche Jugend, or Free German Youth, so she could attend college.Merkel studied physics and physical chemistry at the University of Leipzig and graduated in 1978. She continued her studies at the German Academy of Sciences in East Berlin and earned a doctorate in quantum chemistry in 1986. Merkel worked as a researcher at the Academy of Sciences until 1990. After the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, Merkel decided to enter politics at the age of thirty-five. She joined the center-right Democratic Awakening Party. Within a year, she took on a more visible role as the party’s spokesperson. Prior to Germany’s reunification, the Democratic Awakening Party was folded into the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the biggest party in West Germany. After joining the CDU, Merkel embarked upon her meteoric rise to power. ### Life’s Work Merkel found a mentor in CDU leader Helmut Kohl. The German chancellor appointed Merkel to various positions in his cabinet. During the next decade, she rose from minister of women to environmental minister to the party’s general secretary. In 1999, Merkel struck out on her own politically and turned against her mentor. Kohl was caught siphoning the party’s donations into a secret slush fund, from which he paid his friends. In a front-page editorial, Merkel called for Kohl’s resignation. Merkel’s bold move cemented her rise to the top. She was elected the leader of the CDU in 2000, becoming the first woman to lead a top political party in Germany.With her calm demeanor and pragmatism, Merkel won over the country’s voters. In 2005, Merkel narrowly defeated Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the party head of the Social Democrats. Becoming Germany’s first female chancellor, Merkel was also the first former East German resident to lead the nation since its reunification. After taking office, Merkel steered Europe’s richest country through several international crises. As the unofficial leader of the European Union, she also guided the policies of that entire political and economic bloc made up of twenty-eight countries. Merkel weathered major challenges, including the 2008 global financial crisis, the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, and Great Britain’s 2016 vote to exit the European Union, known as “Brexit,” while staying popular among her constituents. However, perhaps the defining moment of her leadership came during the eurozone debt crisis, which started in 2010. [...] Authored By: Müller, Ernst; Picht, Barbara; Schmieder, Falko Publication Type: Academic Journal ## Full Article Angela Merkel became Germany’s first female chancellor and one of the world’s most powerful leaders, serving four terms from 2005 to 2021 after assuming leadership of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) political party in 2000. Known for her focus on international cooperation, Merkel helped shape the European Union (EU) and played a key role in brokering a crucial euro bailout during the eurozone debt crisis. She also steered Germany through global events such as the migrant crisis of the 2010s and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, earning a reputation for strong and stable leadership. ### Background Angela Merkel was born Angela Dorothea Kasner on July 17, 1954, in Hamburg, in what was West Germany at the time. Her father, Horst Kasner, was a Lutheran pastor, and her mother, Herlind Kasner, was an English teacher. Her brother, Marcus, was born in 1957, and her sister, Irene, was born in 1964. A few weeks after Merkel’s birth, her father moved the family to the then German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. Seven years later, the Berlin Wall was built. Growing up under communism in the town of Templin, Merkel learned to be wary of the Stasi, or secret police. Merkel was an excellent student, especially in Russian, math, and science. As a teenager, she joined a socialist youth organization, Freie Deutsche Jugend, or Free German Youth, so she could attend college.Merkel studied physics and physical chemistry at the University of Leipzig and graduated in 1978. She continued her studies at the German Academy of Sciences in East Berlin and earned a doctorate in quantum chemistry in 1986. Merkel worked as a researcher at the Academy of Sciences until 1990. After the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, Merkel decided to enter politics at the age of thirty-five. She joined the center-right Democratic Awakening Party. Within a year, she took on a more visible role as the party’s spokesperson. Prior to Germany’s reunification, the Democratic Awakening Party was folded into the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the biggest party in West Germany. After joining the CDU, Merkel embarked upon her meteoric rise to power. ### Life’s Work Merkel found a mentor in CDU leader Helmut Kohl. The German chancellor appointed Merkel to various positions in his cabinet. During the next decade, she rose from minister of women to environmental minister to the party’s general secretary. In 1999, Merkel struck out on her own politically and turned against her mentor. Kohl was caught siphoning the party’s donations into a secret slush fund, from which he paid his friends. In a front-page editorial, Merkel called for Kohl’s resignation. Merkel’s bold move cemented her rise to the top. She was elected the leader of the CDU in 2000, becoming the first woman to lead a top political party in Germany.With her calm demeanor and pragmatism, Merkel won over the country’s voters. In 2005, Merkel narrowly defeated Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the party head of the Social Democrats. Becoming Germany’s first female chancellor, Merkel was also the first former East German resident to lead the nation since its reunification. After taking office, Merkel steered Europe’s richest country through several international crises. As the unofficial leader of the European Union, she also guided the policies of that entire political and economic bloc made up of twenty-eight countries. Merkel weathered major challenges, including the 2008 global financial crisis, the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, and Great Britain’s 2016 vote to exit the European Union, known as “Brexit,” while staying popular among her constituents. However, perhaps the defining moment of her leadership came during the eurozone debt crisis, which started in 2010.

• Curriculum vitae of the Federal Chancellor | Federal Government

  # Data privacy information We use cookies to enable you to make the best possible use of our website. Cookies necessary for operating the website are set. You can also allow cookies for statistics purposes. You can change privacy settings or directly allow all cookies. Click here for the privacy policy") Directlink: Service-navigation Area-navigation Main-navigation Content Footer The Federal Chancellor The Federal Chancellor # Angela Merkel ## Main-navigation Federal Chancellor ### Friedrich Merz ### News ### Chancellery + Tasks of the Chancellor + The election of the Federal Chancellor + Federal Cabinet + Federal Chancellors since 1949 show more ### Service + Contact + Data privacy information To the overview ## Biography Angela Merkel was sworn in as Chancellor on November 22, 2005. She is the first woman and the first East German to hold this office. Her CV traces the most important milestones on her way to taking this office. E-mail, Biography Facebook, Biography ### Share the article E-Mail E-mail, Biography Facebook Facebook, Biography X X, Biography Threema , Biography WhatsApp share via Whatsapp, Biography Angela Merkel Kanzlerin Angela Merkel Photo: Bundesregierung/Eckel Angela Merkel was born in Hamburg on 17 July 1954. She is a Protestant Christian and is married to Joachim Sauer. | | | --- | | 1973 | Abitur (higher education entrance qualification) in Templin | | 1973 - 1978 | Studied Physics at Leipzig University | | 1978 - 1990 | Member of the academic staff at the Central Institute of Physical Chemistry at the Academy of Sciences | | 1986 | Awarded a doctorate | | 1989 | Member of "Demokratischer Aufbruch" (Democratic Awakening) | | since 1990 | Member of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) | | 1990 | Deputy Government Spokeswoman of the de Maizière Government in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) | | since 1990 | Member of the German Bundestag | | 1991 - 1998 | Deputy Chairwoman of the CDU | | 1993 - 2000 | Chairwoman of the CDU Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | | 1991 - 1994 | Federal Minister for Women and Youth | | 1994 - 1998 | Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety | | 1998 - 2000 | General Secretary of the CDU Germany | | 2000 - 2018 | Chairwoman of the CDU Germany | | 2002 - 2005 | Chairwoman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag | | since November 2005 | Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany | Share the article E-mail, Biography Facebook, Biography X, Biography ### Share the article E-Mail E-mail, Biography Facebook Facebook, Biography X X, Biography Threema , Biography WhatsApp share via Whatsapp, Biography

• Angela Merkel: Germany's First Female Chancellor and Her Legacy

  # Angela Merkel: Germany's First Female Chancellor and Her Legacy Matt Ryan Webber Matt Ryan Webber:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/smda1_crop-f0c167dd2b2144f68f352c63d17f7db5.jpg) Matt Webber is an experienced personal finance writer, researcher, and editor. He has published widely on personal finance, marketing, and the impact of technology on contemporary arts and culture. Sam Silberstein Sam Silberstein:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/00100lrPORTRAIT_00100_BURST20200515171729630_COVER-SamSilberstein-8e793dbafa8845ebb749a0275c34bdef.JPG) Michael Rosenston Michael Rosenston:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/MichaelRosenston-dc9ea36078684eb9a17e5bbbed31dbad.jpg) Angela Merkel at a CDU governing board meeting:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-1052170818-c74dbcfa3e474aa89bb897a14f0dbe32.jpg) Angela Merkel at a CDU governing board meeting:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-1052170818-c74dbcfa3e474aa89bb897a14f0dbe32.jpg) Ronny Hartmann / Getty Images ### Key Takeaways Get personalized, AI-powered answers built on 27+ years of trusted expertise. Angela Merkel (born Angela Dorothea Kasner on July 17, 1954) was chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She was the first woman to hold the office and the second-longest-serving chancellor in German history.Merkel was born in West Germany, raised in East Germany, and studied chemistry. She entered politics in 1990, just after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. She was elected chancellor—the leader of Germany—in September 2005, and she is credited with steering Germany through the 2008 financial crisis and the European refugee crisis of 2015. ## Angela Merkel's Early Life and Education Angela Merkel was born Angela Dorothea Kasner on July 17, 1954, in Hamburg, which was then part of West Germany. Her father, Horst Kasner, was a Lutheran pastor, and her mother was a teacher of English and Latin. Merkel’s paternal grandfather was Polish, and she has described herself as a quarter Polish. Three weeks after Merkel's birth, her father accepted a post in Quitzow, a town in then-communist East Germany, and the family moved there. When Merkel was three years old, her family moved again in East Germany. From that point on, Merkel grew up in Templin, a town in Brandenburg located to the north of Berlin. Like most young people in East Germany at that time, Merkel joined the Free German Youth, the official communist youth movement sponsored by the ruling Marxist-Leninist Socialist Unity Party of Germany. Merkel studied physics at Karl Marx University, Leipzig from 1973 to 1978, and then worked at the Central Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin-Adlershof from 1978 to 1990. She received a doctorate in quantum chemistry in 1986. Merkel was once approached by the Stasi (the East German secret police) to become an informant, and she refused. [...] ## Who Is the Current Chancellor of Germany? Olaf Scholz succeeded Merkel as chancellor in 2021 and remains the German Chancellor as of 2024. ## Why Did Angela Merkel Resign? Merkel has not spoken in detail about her reasons for her resignation, though some have speculated that her health was suffering by 2018. When she retired, she was 67 years old. ## The Bottom Line Angela Merkel was elected leader of Germany in 2005 and held that position until she retired in 2021. She was the first woman to be chancellor, the youngest (at age 51) to hold that office, and the second-longest-serving leader in Germany’s history. During her leadership, she successfully navigated a series of crises: the 2008 financial crash, the 2015 migrant crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Britannica. "Angela Merkel." The Harvard Gazette. “Angela Merkel, The Scientist Who Became a World Leader.” Biography. "Angela Merkel." Britannica. “Angela Merkel.” The Guardian. “Six Things You Didn’t Know About Angela Merkel.” The Guardian. "The Crisis Manager: Angela Merkel’s Double-Edged European Legacy." WENR: World Education News & Reviews, World Education Services (WES). “The State of Refugee Integration in Germany in 2019.” Associated Press. "German Government Agrees $60 Billion Climate Policy Package." The Atlantic. “The Secret to Germany’s COVID-19 Success: Angela Merkel Is a Scientist.” Time. “Person of the Year: Chancellor of the Free World.” The Atlantic. “The Merkel Model.”

• Angela Merkel | Book, Biography, Putin, Education ...

  Encyclopedia Britannica Encyclopedia Britannica “Queen of Europe” The history of women in politics Reunification of Germany: How it happened Discover the history of women leaders in this timeline Angela Merkel Angela Merkel and Antonis Samaras Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stand in a row in front of national flags. Paris Agreement French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel stand outdoors, holding hands and looking at each other during a commemorative ceremony in Compiegne, France. default image Michael Faraday (L) English physicist and chemist (electromagnetism) and John Frederic Daniell (R) British chemist and meteorologist who invented the Daniell cell. Italian-born physicist Dr. Enrico Fermi draws a diagram at a blackboard with mathematical equations. circa 1950. Cleopatra hieroglyphic carving the Ancient Egyptian queen Cleopatra. Wall of the Temple of Horus at Edfu, Egypt. Britannica AI Icon Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. “Queen of Europe” # Angela Merkel Britannica AI Icon ### Where was Angela Merkel educated? Merkel finished (1973) high school in Templin, East Germany, and received (1978) a bachelor’s degree in physics at Karl Marx University (now the University of Leipzig). She then worked at the Central Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences in East Berlin, earning (1986) a doctorate for her thesis on quantum chemistry. ### What did Angela Merkel accomplish? During her time as the first female chancellor of Germany, Merkel was a leading figure in European politics, championing austerity as the path to recovery for Europe’s damaged economies. Faced with Europe’s gravest refugee crisis since World War II, she maintained that Germany would keep its borders open in the face of the humanitarian emergency. ### What did Angela Merkel do to help the world? When hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, and elsewhere flocked to the European Union, Merkel advocated for the resettlement of large numbers of people in Germany. As a result, more than one million migrants entered Germany in 2015 alone, sparing them the danger of having to return to their war-torn countries. Angela Merkel (born July 17, 1954, Hamburg, West Germany) is a German politician who served as chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She was the first woman to hold that office and the second longest-serving chancellor in German history. ## Early life [...] Cleopatra hieroglyphic carving the Ancient Egyptian queen Cleopatra. Wall of the Temple of Horus at Edfu, Egypt. In the first postreunification election, in December 1990, Merkel won a seat in the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) representing Stralsund-Rügen-Grimmen. She was appointed minister for women and youth by Chancellor Helmut Kohl in January 1991. Kohl’s choice of the young female political newcomer from East Germany appealed to several demographics and earned Merkel the nickname “Kohls Mädchen” (“Kohl’s girl”). Maizière, who had become the CDU’s deputy chairman after the eastern and western parties merged, resigned from his position on September 6, 1991, because of accusations of having worked for the Stasi. Merkel was elected to replace him in December of the same year. After the 1994 election Merkel became minister of environment, conservation, and reactor safety, and she presided over the first United Nations Climate Conference in Berlin in March–April 1995. In September 1998 the CDU was ousted by Gerhard Schröder and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Merkel was elected secretary-general of the CDU on November 7. She married her longtime companion, chemistry professor Joachim Sauer, on December 30 of that year.

• Instance Of

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