Early life
Angela Merkel was born Angela Dorothea Kasner in
Hamburg on 17 July 1954, the daughter of Horst Kasner (born 6 August 1926 in
Berlin-
Pankow), a
Lutheran pastor, and his wife, Herlind (born 8 July 1928 in
Danzig/Gdańsk, as Herlind Jentzsch), a teacher of
English and
Latin. Her mother was once a member of the
Social Democratic Party of Germany.
[3] Her grandparents on her mother's side, one of them being
Masurian, lived in
Elbing in
East Prussia. Merkel stated that she is one quarter Polish in an interview with
Der Spiegel in 2000.
[4] She has a brother, Marcus (born 7 July 1957), and a sister, Irene (born 19 August 1964).
Merkel's father studied
theology in
Heidelberg and, afterwards, in Hamburg. In 1954 her father received a pastorate at the church in
Quitzow (near
Perleberg in
Brandenburg) which then was in
Communist East Germany, and the family moved to
Templin. Thus Merkel grew up in the countryside 80 km (50 miles) north of
Berlin.
Gerd Langguth, a former senior member of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, states in his book
[5] that the family's ability to travel freely from East to West Germany during the following years, as well as their possession of two automobiles, leads to the conclusion that Merkel's father had a "sympathetic" relationship with the communist regime, since such freedom and perquisites for a Christian pastor and his family would have been otherwise impossible in East Germany.
Like most pupils, Merkel was a member of the official,
Socialist-led youth movement
Free German Youth (FDJ). However, she did not take part in the
secular coming of age ceremony
Jugendweihe, which was common in East Germany, and was
confirmed instead. Later, at the Academy of Sciences, she became a member of the FDJ district board and secretary for "
Agitprop" (Agitation and Propaganda).
[6] Merkel herself claimed that she was secretary for culture. When Merkel onetime FDJ district chairman contradicted her, she insisted that:
"According to my memory, I was secretary for culture. But what do I know? I believe I won't know anything when I'm 80.".
[7] Merkel's progress in the compulsory Marxism-Leninism course was graded only
genügend (sufficient, passing grade) in 1983 and 1986.
[8]
Merkel (right) as deputy government spokesperson together with
Lothar de Maizière, August 1990
[edit]Member of Bundestag and cabinet minister
[edit]Leader of the opposition
When the Kohl government was
defeated in the 1998 general election, Merkel was named Secretary-General of the CDU. In this position, Merkel oversaw a string of Christian Democrat election victories in six out of seven state elections in 1999 alone, breaking the SPD-Green coalition's hold on the
Bundesrat, the legislative body representing the
states. Following
a party financing scandal, which compromised many leading figures of the CDU (most notably Kohl himself, who refused to reveal the donor of DM 2,000,000 claiming he had given his word of honour and the then party chairman
Wolfgang Schäuble, Kohl's hand-picked successor, who wasn't cooperative either), Merkel criticized her former mentor, Kohl, and advocated a fresh start for the party without him. She was elected to replace Schäuble, becoming the first female chair of her party, on 10 April 2000. Her election surprised many observers, as her personality offered a contrast to the party she had been chosen to lead; Merkel is a
Protestant, originating from predominantly Protestant northern Germany, while the CDU is a male-dominated,
socially conservative party with strongholds in western and southern Germany, and the Bavarian sister party, the CSU, has deep
Catholicroots.
Following Merkel's election as CDU leader, she enjoyed considerable popularity among the German population and was favoured by many Germans to become
Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's challenger in the
2002 election. However, she did not receive enough support in her own party and particularly its sister party (the
Bavarian Christian Social Union, or CSU), and was subsequently out-manoeuvred politically by CSU leader
Edmund Stoiber, to whom she eventually ceded the privilege of challenging Schröder; however, he squandered a large lead in the opinion polls to lose the election by a razor-thin margin. After Stoiber's defeat in 2002, in addition to her role as CDU chairwoman, Merkel became leader of the conservative opposition in the lower house of the German parliament, the
Bundestag. Her rival,
Friedrich Merz, who had held the post of parliamentary leader prior to the 2002 election, was eased out to make way for Merkel.
[citation needed]Merkel supported a substantial
reform agenda concerning Germany's economic and social system and was considered to be more pro-
market than her own party (the CDU); she advocated changes to German labour law, specifically removing barriers to laying off employees and increasing the allowed number of work hours in a week, arguing that existing laws made the country less competitive because companies cannot easily control labour costs at times when business is slow.
[14]Merkel argued for Germany's
nuclear power to be phased out less quickly than the Schröder administration had planned.
[15][edit]Comparisons
As a female politician from a
centre right party, and a scientist, Merkel has been compared by many in the English-language press to former
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Some have referred to her as "
Iron Lady", "Iron Girl", and even "The Iron Frau" (all alluding to Thatcher, whose nickname was "The Iron Lady" —Thatcher also has a science degree: an Oxford University degree in chemistry). Political commentators have debated the precise extent to which their agendas are similar.
[16]In addition to being the first female German chancellor and the youngest German chancellor since the Second World War, Merkel is also the first born after World War II, and the first with a background in natural sciences. She studied physics; her predecessors law, business, history or were military officers, among others.
On 30 May 2005, Merkel won the CDU/CSU nomination as challenger to Chancellor
Gerhard Schröder of the
SPD in the
2005 national elections. Her party began the campaign with a 21 point lead over the
SPD in national
opinion polls, although her personal popularity lagged behind that of the
incumbent. However, the CDU/CSU campaign suffered
[citation needed] when Merkel, having made economic competence central to the CDU's platform, confused
gross and
net income twice during a televised debate. She regained some momentum after she announced that she would appoint
Paul Kirchhof, a former judge at the German Constitutional Court and leading fiscal policy expert, as Minister of Finance.
[citation needed]Merkel and the CDU lost ground after Kirchhof proposed the introduction of a
flat tax in Germany, again undermining the party's broad appeal on economic affairs and convincing many voters that the CDU's platform of deregulation was designed to benefit only the rich. This was compounded by Merkel proposing to increase
VAT to reduce Germany's deficit and fill the gap in revenue from a flat tax. The SPD were able to increase their support simply by pledging not to introduce flat taxes or increase VAT. Although Merkel's standing recovered after she distanced herself from Kirchhof's proposals, she remained considerably less popular than Schröder, and the CDU's lead was down to 9% on the eve of the election.
On 18 September 2005, Merkel's CDU/CSU and Schröder's SPD went head-to-head in the national elections, with the CDU/CSU winning 35.3% (CDU 27.8%/CSU 7.5%) of the second votes to the SPD's 34.2%. Neither the SPD-Green coalition nor the CDU/CSU and its preferred coalition partners, the
Free Democratic Party, held enough seats to form a majority in the Bundestag, and both Schröder and Merkel claimed victory. A
grand coalition between the CDU/CSU and SPD faced the challenge that both parties demanded the chancellorship. However, after three weeks of
negotiations, the two parties reached a deal whereby Merkel would become Chancellor and the SPD would hold 8 of the 16 seats in the cabinet.
[18][19] The coalition deal was approved by both parties at party conferences on 14 November 2005.
[20] Merkel was elected Chancellor by the majority of delegates (397 to 217) in the newly assembled Bundestag on 22 November 2005, but 51 members of the governing coalition voted against her.
[21]Reports had indicated that the grand coalition would pursue a mix of policies, some of which differ from Merkel's political platform as leader of the opposition and candidate for Chancellor. The coalition's intent was to cut public spending whilst increasing
VAT (from 16 to 19%),
social insurance contributions and the top rate of
income tax.
[22] rm
Merkel had stated that the main aim of her government would be to reduce unemployment, and that it is this issue on which her government will be judged.
[23][edit]Chancellor of Germany
[edit]Failure of multiculturalism
In October 2010 Merkel told a meeting of younger members of her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party at
Potsdam that attempts to build a multicultural society in Germany had "utterly failed",
[24] stating: "The concept that we are now living side by side and are happy about it does not work"
[25] and that "we feel attached to the Christian concept of mankind, that is what defines us. Anyone who doesn't accept that is in the wrong place here."
[26] She continued to say that immigrants should integrate and adopt Germany's culture and values. This has added to a growing debate within Germany
[27] on the levels of immigration, its effect on Germany and the degree to which Muslim immigrants have integrated into German society.
[edit]Foreign policy
On 25 September 2007, Chancellor Angela Merkel met the
Dalai Lama for "
private and informal talks" in Berlin in the
Chancellery amid protest from
China. China afterwards cancelled separate talks with German officials, including talks with Justice Minister
Brigitte Zypries.
[28]Der Spiegel reported that tensions between Chancellor Merkel and U.S. President Barack Obama
[29] were eased during a meeting between the two leaders in June 2009. Commenting on a White House Press Conference held after the meeting,
Spiegel stated, "Of course the rather more reserved chancellor couldn't really keep up with [Obama's]...charm offensive," but to reciprocate for Obama's "good natured" diplomacy, "she gave it a go...by mentioning the experiences of Obama's sister in Heidelberg, making it clear that she had read his autobiography".
[30] According to the news agency
Mehr (as reported in the
Mail & Guardian Online and
Deutsche Welle, quoting
AFP), in August 2006, Merkel received a letter from President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of
Iran.
[32][33] According to the reports, Merkel said that the letter contained "unacceptable" criticism of
Israel and "put in question" the Jewish state's right to exist, and that therefore she would not formally respond to the letter.
On 16 March 2007, Merkel arrived in Israel to mark the 60th
anniversary of the Jewish state. She was greeted at the airport by Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert, an honor guard and many of the country's political and religious leaders, including most of the Israeli Cabinet.
[34][35] Until then, US President
George W. Bush had been the only world leader Olmert had bestowed with the honor of greeting at the airport.
[36][37] Merkel was granted special permission to speak before
Israel's parliament, which is normally done only by heads of state,
[38] although this provoked rumbles of opposition from Israeli MPs on the far right.
[39][edit]Liquidity crisis
On 4 October 2008, a Saturday, following the
Irish Government's decision to guarantee all deposits in private savings accounts, a move she strongly criticized,
[41] Merkel said there were no plans for the German Government to do the same. The following day, Merkel stated that the government would guarantee private savings account deposits, after all.
[42] However, two days later, on 6 October 2008, it emerged that the pledge was simply a political move that would not be backed by legislation.
[43] Other European governments eventually either raised the limits or promised to guarantee savings in full.
[43][edit]Cabinets
On 31 October 2005, after the defeat of his favoured candidate for the position of Secretary General of the SPD,
Franz Müntefering indicated that he would resign as Chairman of the party in November, which he did. Ostensibly responding to this,
Edmund Stoiber (CSU), who was originally nominated for the Economics and Technology post, announced his withdrawal on 1 November 2005. While this was initially seen as a blow to Merkel's attempt at forming a viable coalition and cabinet, the manner in which Stoiber withdrew earned him much ridicule and severely undermined his position as a Merkel rival. Separate conferences of the CDU, CSU, and SPD approved the proposed Cabinet on 14 November 2005
[edit]Personal life
In 1977, Angela Kasner married physics student Ulrich Merkel. The marriage ended in divorce in 1982.
[45] Her second and current husband is quantum chemist and professor
Joachim Sauer, who has largely remained out of the media spotlight. They first met in 1981,
[46] came together later, but married privately only on 30 December 1998.
[47] She has no children, but Sauer has two adult sons by a previous marriage.
[48][edit]Honours
New Statesman named Angela Merkel in 'The World's 50 Most Influential Figures' 2010.
[60] On September 21, 2010, the
Leo Baeck Institute, a research institution in New York City devoted to the history of German-speaking Jewry, awarded Angela Merkel the
Leo Baeck Medal. The medal was presented by former US Secretary of the Treasury and current Director of the Jewish Museum Berlin, W. Michael Blumenthal, who cited Merkel's support of Jewish cultural life and the integration of minorities in Germany.
[61]On 17 November 2010 the White House announced that President Barack Obama will award her the
Medal of Freedom - the highest civilian honor in the
USA.
[62][edit]Controversy
In September 2010 due to a debate of integration Chancellor Angela Merkel said to the
Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper that "Germans will see more mosques".
[72] In October 2010, following a speech by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany
Christian Wulff during the
German reunification day, she stated that "Islam is part of Germany".
[73]
Members of her cabinet and Chancellor Merkel herself also support the idea of, and are already introducing, Islamic education and classes in schools.
[74][75][76][77]
12:31 AM
Wikipedia
listen);[1] néeKasner, born 17 July 1954) is the current Chancellor of Germany. Merkel, elected to theBundestag (German Parliament) from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairman of theChristian Democratic Union (CDU) since 2000, and Chairman of the CDU-CSU (Christian Social Union) parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.
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