Angela Merkel

**Angela Dorothea Merkel** (born _Angela Dorothea Kasner_ on 17 July 1954 in Hamburg) is a German politician, and was Chancellor of Germany from 22 November 2005 to 8 December 2021.

She was born in Hamburg, at the time part of West Germany, and grew up in the former German Democratic Republic, where she lived until the reuniting of Germany in 1990. Merkel is now married to Joachim Sauer, a professor of chemistry. From 2000 to 2018, she was the chairperson (was in charge of) the German conservative party, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU).

Merkel became Germany's first female chancellor on 22 November 2005 in a coalition of the two biggest German political parties, the CDU/CSU and SPD. After the next election in 2009, she formed a coalition with the German liberal party FDP. After the 2013 and 2017 Federal Elections, she again emerged as chancellor of a coalition government.

Her father was a Lutheran pastor and her mother was a school teacher. Before becoming a politician, she worked as a researcher in Physical Chemistry. In December 2015, she was named as _Time_ magazine's Person of the Year.

In October 2018, Merkel announced her permanent retirement from politics, as she said she would not seek reelection as leader of the CDU at the party convention in December 2018 and as Chancellor in 2021. After this, another female politician, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, replaced her as CDU leader.

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **name**: Angela Merkel
- **image**: Angela Merkel 2023 (cropped).jpg
- **caption**: Merkel in 2023
- **office**: Chancellor of Germany
- **president**: Horst Köhler <small>(2005–2010)</small>
Christian Wulff <small>(2010–2012)</small>
Joachim Gauck <small>(2012–2017)</small>
Frank-Walter Steinmeier <small>(2017–present)</small>
- **deputy**: Franz Müntefering <small>(2005–2007)</small>
Frank-Walter Steinmeier <small>(2007–2009)</small>
Guido Westerwelle <small>(2009–2011)</small>
Philipp Rösler <small>(2011–2013)</small>

Sigmar Gabriel <small>(2013–2018)</small>
 Olaf Scholz <small>(since 2018)</small>
- **term start**: 22 November 2005
- **term end**: 8 December 2021
- **predecessor**: Gerhard Schröder
- **successor**: Olaf Scholz
- **office2**: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (Germany), Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
- **chancellor2**: Helmut Kohl
- **term start2**: 17 November 1994
- **term end2**: 26 October 1998
- **predecessor2**: Klaus Töpfer
- **successor2**: Jürgen Trittin
- **office3**: Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Minister for Women and Youth
- **chancellor3**: Helmut Kohl
- **term start3**: 18 January 1991
- **term end3**: 17 November 1994
- **predecessor3**: Ursula Lehr
- **successor3**: Claudia Nolte
- **office4**: Member of the Bundestag
- **term start4**: 2 December 1990
- **term end4**: 26 October 2021
- **constituency4**: Stralsund – Nordvorpommern – Rügen (electoral constituency), Stralsund – Nordvorpommern – Rügen
- **birth name**: Angela Dorothea Kasner
- **birth place**: Hamburg, West Germany (Germany since 1990)
- **party**: Christian Democratic Union (Germany), Christian Democratic Union <small>(1990–present)</small>
- **otherparty**: Democratic Awakening <small>(1989–1990)</small>
- **spouse**: Ulrich Merkel <small>(1977–1982)</small>
Joachim Sauer <small>(1998–present)</small>
- **alma mater**: University of Leipzig
- **profession**: Physical chemist
- **signature**: Angela Merkel Signature.svg