Angela Merkel

Angela Merkel was born in Hamburg in 1954 and grew up in the GDR. After studying physics in Leipzig, she worked as a researcher in quantum chemistry at the Academy of Sciences of the GDR in Berlin, where she earned her doctorate in 1986.

In 1989, she joined the "Demokratischer Aufbruch" (Democratic Awakening) movement and, following the first free elections in the GDR, became deputy government spokesperson for the government of Lothar de Maizière. Angela Merkel joined the CDU in 1990 and served as a member of the German Bundestag from 1990 to 2021, representing the constituency of Vorpommern-Rügen – Vorpommern-Greifswald I. From 1991 to 1994, she was Federal Minister for Women and Youth, and from 1994 to 1998 Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

From 2000 to 2018, she served as Chairwoman of the CDU, and from 2002 to 2005 as Chairwoman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag.

On 22 November 2005, Angela Merkel became the first woman to be elected Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, a position she held until December 2021. She did not run for re-election in the 2021 federal election.