Angela Dorothea Merkel is a German retired politician who served as the eighth 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 … See more

1989–1990: German reunification
The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 served as the catalyst for Merkel's political career. Although she did not participate in the … See more

On 31 January 2022, less than two months after she left office, her long-time rival Friedrich Merz, who she beat in 2002 to become See more

Immigration, refugees and migration
In October 2010, Merkel told a meeting of younger members of her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party at Potsdam that … See more

Merkel was born Angela Dorothea Kasner in 1954, in Hamburg, West Germany, the daughter of Horst Kasner (1926–2011; né Kaźmierczak), a Lutheran pastor and a native of Berlin, and … See more

Merkel continued her education at Karl Marx University, Leipzig, where she studied physics from 1973 to 1978. While a student, she … See more

2005–2009: First CDU–SPD grand coalition
Election
On 30 May 2005, Merkel won the CDU/CSU nomination to challenge Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of the SPD in the See more