Dr. Angela Merkel

Dr. Angela Merkel was born in Hamburg in 1954. She grew up in the GDR, where she studied physics and earned her doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.). In 1989, she joined the “Demokratischer Aufbruch” movement. In 1990, she became deputy government spokesperson for the last GDR government under Lothar de Maizière. She has been a member of the CDU since 1990 and served as a member of the German Bundestag until 2021. From 1991 to 1994, she served as Federal Minister for Women and Youth, and subsequently, until 1998, as Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety in the federal governments led by Helmut Kohl. She subsequently played a leading role in the CDU as Secretary-General, Party Chair (2000–2018), and Chair of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag (2002–2005). From 2005 to 2021, she served as the first female Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2021, she ended her active political career.