Curriculum vitae

Angela Merkel

Angela Merkel was sworn in as Chancellor on November 22, 2005. She is the first woman and the first East German to hold this office. Her CV traces her rise from an academic to a political career.

Chancellor Angela Merkel Photo: Laurence Chaperon Angela Merkel

Born on 17 July 1954 in Hamburg; Protestant, married

Since November 2005
Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany

2002 - 2005
Chairwoman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag

Since 2000
Chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union Germany (CDU)

1998 - 2000
General Secretary of the CDU Germany

1994 - 1998
Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety

1991 - 1994
Federal Minister for Women and Youth

1993 - 2000
Chairwoman of the CDU Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

1991 - 1998
Deputy Chairwoman of the CDU

Since 1990
Member of the German Bundestag

1990
Deputy Government Spokeswoman of the de Maizière Government

Since 1990
Joined the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU)

1989
Member of "Demokratischer Aufbruch" (Democratic Awakening)

1986
Awarded a doctorate

1978 - 1990
Member of the academic staff at the Central Institute of Physical Chemistry at the Academy of Sciences

1973 - 1978
Studied Physics at Leipzig University

1973
Abitur (higher education entrance qualification) in Templin