Angela Merkel

Angela Merkel
Official portrait, 2010
Chancellor of Germany
In office 22 November 2005 – 8 December 2021
President	Horst Köhler Christian Wulff Joachim Gauck Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Vice Chancellor	See list Franz Müntefering Frank-Walter Steinmeier Guido Westerwelle Philipp Rösler Sigmar Gabriel Olaf Scholz
Preceded by	Gerhard Schröder
Succeeded by	Olaf Scholz
Leader of the Christian Democratic Union
In office 10 April 2000 – 7 December 2018
General Secretary	See list Ruprecht Polenz Laurenz Meyer Volker Kauder Ronald Pofalla Hermann Gröhe Peter Tauber Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
Deputy	See list Volker Bouffier Christian Wulff Ursula von der Leyen Annette Schavan Julia Klöckner Norbert Röttgen Armin Laschet Thomas Strobl
Preceded by	Wolfgang Schäuble
Succeeded by	Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
Leader of the Opposition
In office 22 September 2002 – 22 November 2005
Chancellor	Gerhard Schröder
Preceded by	Friedrich Merz
Succeeded by	Wolfgang Gerhardt
Leader of the CDU/CSU in the Bundestag
In office 22 September 2002 – 21 November 2005
First Deputy	Michael Glos
Chief Whip	Volker Kauder Norbert Röttgen
Preceded by	Friedrich Merz
Succeeded by	Volker Kauder
Early federal, state politics 1991‍–‍2000 General Secretary of the Christian Democratic Union In office 7 November 1998 – 10 April 2000 Leader Wolfgang Schäuble Preceded by Peter Hintze Succeeded by Ruprecht Polenz Leader of the Christian Democratic Union in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern In office June 1993 – 20 May 2000 General Secretary Klaus Preschle Hubert Gehring Preceded by Günther Krause Succeeded by Steffie Schnoor Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety In office 17 November 1994 – 26 October 1998 Chancellor Helmut Kohl Preceded by Klaus Töpfer Succeeded by Jürgen Trittin Minister for Women and Youth In office 18 January 1991 – 17 November 1994 Chancellor Helmut Kohl Preceded by Ursula Lehr Succeeded by Claudia Nolte
Member of the Bundestag for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
In office 20 December 1990 – 26 October 2021
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Anna Kassautzki
Constituency	Stralsund – Rügen – Grimmen (1990–2002) Stralsund – Nordvorpommern – Rügen (2002–2013) Vorpommern-Rügen – Vorpommern-Greifswald I (2013–2021)
Personal details
Born	Angela Dorothea Kasner (1954-07-17) 17 July 1954 (age 70) Hamburg, West Germany
Political party	Christian Democratic Union (since 1990)
Other political affiliations	Christian Democratic Union (East Germany, 1990) Democratic Beginning (1989–1990)
Spouses	Ulrich Merkel ​ ​ (m. 1977; div. 1982)​ Joachim Sauer ​ (m. 1998)​
Residence(s)	Am Kupfergraben, Berlin
Alma mater	Leipzig University (BS) German Academy of Sciences at Berlin (Dr. rer. nat.)[1]
Awards	Full list
Signature
Website	Official website
Scientific career
Fields	Quantum chemistry
Thesis	Study of the mechanism of decay reactions with single bond rupture and calculation of their rate constants based on quantum chemical and statistical methods (1986)
Doctoral advisor	Lutz Zülicke [de]

This article is part of a series about Angela Merkel
MdB for Vorpommern-Rügen – Vorpommern-Greifswald I Christian Democratic Union of Germany Merkel-Raute Revolution of 1989 Democratic Awakening 1990 East German election German reunification Kohl government Minister for Women and Youth Minister for the Environment Leader of the Christian Democratic Union CDU donations scandal 2005 election First ministry and term First Merkel cabinet EU Council presidency 33rd G8 summit Treaty of Lisbon Berlin Declaration Financial crisis Stimulus plan 2009 election Second ministry and term Second Merkel cabinet 2010 presidential election Health care reform Energiewende European debt crisis European Banking Supervision Bundeswehr reform NSA surveillance 2013 election Third ministry and term Third Merkel cabinet Crimean conflict Normandy format 41st G7 summit European migrant crisis Wir schaffen das Willkommenskultur 2017 G20 Hamburg summit 2017 election Fourth ministry and term Fourth Merkel cabinet CDU leadership election COVID-19 pandemic 2021 floods Family Foreign policy Public image Awards and honours
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Angela Dorothea Merkel (German: [aŋˈɡeːla doʁoˈteːa ˈmɛʁkl̩] ^ⓘ;^[a] née Kasner; born 17 July 1954) is a retired German politician who served as the chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021 and was the first woman to hold that office. She previously served as leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and as the leader of the Christian Democratic Union from 2000 to 2018.^[9] During her chancellorship, Merkel was frequently referred to as the de facto leader of the European Union (EU) and the most powerful woman in the world. Beginning in 2016, she was often described as the leader of the free world.^[10] Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, her legacy came under increased scrutiny both in Germany and abroad.^[11][12]

Merkel was born in Hamburg in West Germany. Her family moved to East Germany when she was an infant. Merkel obtained a doctorate in quantum chemistry in 1986 and worked as a research scientist until 1989.^[13] 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.^[b] 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.^[15] 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.^[16] 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.^[17]

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 global 2007–2008 financial crisis and the European debt crisis. She negotiated the 2008 European Union stimulus plan, which focused on infrastructure spending and public investment to counteract the Great Recession. In domestic policy, Merkel's Energiewende program 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, she came under increased criticism 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 military that occurred during her tenure.

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