Angela Merkel is a German politician who served as the Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021.
She is a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a center-right political party in Germany.
Born on July 17, 1954, in Hamburg, West Germany, Merkel grew up in East Germany and was trained as a physicist.
Merkel entered politics after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, joining the CDU party and quickly rising through the ranks.
She held various positions in the German government, including Minister for Women and Youth and Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety. In 2000, she became the leader of the CDU party.
Merkel made history in 2005 when she became the first female Chancellor of Germany.
As Chancellor, she pursued a pragmatic and cautious approach to domestic and foreign policy, earning her a reputation as a skilled negotiator and a consensus-builder. Merkel played a critical role in managing the Eurozone crisis and was a key figure in shaping the European Union’s response to challenges such as migration, terrorism, and Brexit.
Throughout her time in office, Merkel was widely regarded as one of the world’s most powerful women and a leading voice in international diplomacy. She stepped down as Chancellor in 2021 and was succeeded by Olaf Scholz.