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Angela Merkel

17 July 1954 – present

Angela Merkel is a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021, the first woman to hold the office. Trained as a quantum chemist, she worked as a research scientist in East Germany before entering politics during the country's transition in 1989 and being elected to the Bundestag in 1990. She led the Christian Democratic Union from 2000 to 2018.

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Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Angela Merkel.

Life events

Born in Hamburg
17 July 1954

Born Angela Dorothea Kasner, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor and a teacher.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Family settles in Templin, East Germany
1957

Her father took up a pastorate in Brandenburg after the family moved east, and she grew up in Templin.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Studies physics at the University of Leipzig
1973 – 1978

Read physics in Leipzig, graduating in 1978.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Works as a researcher at the Academy of Sciences
1978 – 1990

Held a post at the Central Institute for Physical Chemistry in Berlin-Adlershof.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Earns a doctorate in quantum chemistry
1986

Completed a dissertation on reaction rate calculations for hydrocarbon decay.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Enters politics during the fall of East Germany
1989

Joined the new party Demokratischer Aufbruch and became deputy spokesperson of the last East German government.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Elected to the Bundestag
1990

Won a constituency in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in the first all-German election after reunification.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Serves as a federal minister under Helmut Kohl
1991 – 1998

Minister for Women and Youth from 1991 and Minister for the Environment from 1994 until 1998.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Elected leader of the Christian Democratic Union
2000 – 2018

Became party chair after a funding scandal, and held the post until 2018.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Serves as Chancellor of Germany
November 2005 – December 2021

Took office in November 2005 and led four governments through the eurozone debt crisis, the 2015 migration influx and the COVID-19 pandemic before leaving office in December 2021.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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