Angela Merkel

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"Merkel" redirects here. For other uses, see Merkel (disambiguation).

Angela Merkel

Chancellor Merkel with her hands in the characteristic MerkelRaute position

Chancellor of Germany

Incumbent

Assumed office
22 November 2005

President

Horst Khler
Christian Wulff
Joachim Gauck

Deputy

Franz Mntefering
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Guido Westerwelle
Philipp Rsler
Sigmar Gabriel

Preceded by

Gerhard Schrder

Leader of the Christian Democratic Union

Incumbent

Assumed office
10 April 2000

Preceded by

Wolfgang Schuble

Minister for the Environment

In office
17 November 1994 26 October 1998

Chancellor

Helmut Kohl

Preceded by

Klaus Tpfer

Succeeded by

Jrgen Trittin

Minister for Women and Youth

In office
18 January 1991 17 November 1994

Chancellor

Helmut Kohl

Preceded by

Ursula Lehr

Succeeded by

Claudia Nolte

Personal details

Born

Angela Dorothea Kasner

17 July 1954 (age 61)
Hamburg, West Germany

Political party

Democratic Awakening (19891990)

Christian Democratic Union(1990present)

Spouse(s)

Ulrich Merkel (19771982)

Joachim Sauer (1998present)

Alma mater

Leipzig University

Religion

Lutheranism (withinEvangelical Church)

Signature

Angela Dorothea Merkel[a] (ne Kasner; born 17 July 1954) is a German politician and
former research scientist who has been theChancellor of Germany since 2005 and the Leader of
the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 2000.
Having earned a doctorate as a physical chemist, Merkel entered politics in the wake of
the Revolutions of 1989, briefly serving as a deputy spokesperson for the first democratically
elected East German Government in 1990. Following German reunification in 1990, she was
elected to the Bundestag for Stralsund-Nordvorpommern-Rgen in the state of MecklenburgVorpommern, a seat she has held ever since. She was later appointed as the Minister for
Women and Youth in 1991 under Chancellor Helmut Kohl, later becoming the Minister for the
Environment in 1994. After Kohl was defeated in 1998, she was elected Secretary-General of the
CDU before becoming the party's first female leader two years later in the aftermath of
a donations scandal that toppled Wolfgang Schuble.
Following the 2005 federal election, she was appointed Germany's first female Chancellor at the
head of a grand coalition consisting of the CDU, its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social
Union (CSU), and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). In the2009 federal election,
the CDU obtained the largest share of the vote and Merkel was able to form a coalition
government with the support of the Free Democratic Party (FDP).[7] At the 2013 federal election,
Merkel won a landslide victory with 41.5% of the vote, falling just short of an overall majority, and
formed a second grand coalition with the SPD, after the FDP lost all of its representation in
the Bundestag.[8]
In 2007, Merkel was President of the European Council and chaired the G8, the second woman
to do so. She played a central role in the negotiation of the Treaty of Lisbon and the Berlin
Declaration. One of her priorities was also to strengthen transatlantic economic relations by
signing the agreement for the Transatlantic Economic Council on 30 April 2007. It has been said
that Merkel played a crucial role in managing the financial crisis at the European and
international level, and has been referred to as "the decider." In domestic policy, health care
reform and problems concerning future energy development have been major issues during her
Chancellorship, and more recently her government's approach to the ongoing refugee crisis.[9]
Merkel has been described as the de facto leader of the European Union. She was
also ranked as the world's second most powerful person by Forbes magazine in 2012 and 2015,
the highest ranking ever achieved by a woman.[10][11][12][13][14][15] In December 2015, she was named
as Time magazine's Person of the Year, with the magazine's cover declaring her to be the
"Chancellor of the Free World."[16] On 26 March 2014, she became the longest-serving
incumbent head of government in the European Union. Merkel is currently the Senior G7 leader.
In May 2015, she was named the most powerful woman in the world for a record ninth
time byForbes.[17]

Contents
[hide]

1Early life and education

2Early political career

2.1Leader of the Opposition

3Chancellor of Germany
o

3.1Domestic policy

3.2Foreign affairs

3.3Eurozone crisis

3.4Social expenditure

3.5Approval ratings

4Cabinets

5Personal life
o

5.1Religion

5.2Ancestry

6Honours and awards

o

6.1National honours

6.2Honorary degrees

6.3Other

7Comparisons

8Controversies

9Other

10In the arts and media

11Notes

12References

13Further reading

14External links

Early life and education

Merkel was born Angela Dorothea Kasner in 1954 in Hamburg, West Germany, the daughter
of Horst Kasner (19262011),[18][19] a native of Berlin, and his wife Herlind, born in 1928
in Danzig (now Gdask, Poland) as Herlind Jentzsch, a teacher of English andLatin. Her mother
was the daughter of the Danzig politician Willi Jentzsch and maternal granddaughter of the city
clerk of Elbing (nowElblg, Poland) Emil Drange. Herlind Jentzsch was once a member of
the Social Democratic Party of Germany and briefly served as a member of the municipal council
in Templin following the German reunification.[20] Merkel has Polish ancestry through her paternal
grandfather, Ludwig Kasner, a German national[21] of Polish origin from Posen(now Pozna).
[22]
The family's original name Kamierczak was Germanized to Kasner in 1930.[23][24]
Religion played a key role in Angela Merkel's migration to East Germany. Her father was born a
Catholic, but the Kasner family eventually converted to Lutheranism, [22] and he studied Lutheran
theology in Heidelberg and afterwards in Hamburg. In 1954, Angela's father received a pastorate
at the church in Quitzow (a quarter of Perleberg inBrandenburg), which was then in East
Germany, and so the family moved to Templin. Merkel thus grew up in the countryside 80 km
(50 mi) north of East Berlin.
Like most young people in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Merkel was a
member of the Free German Youth (FDJ), the official youth movement sponsored by the
ruling Socialist Unity Party. Membership was nominally voluntary, but those who did not join
found it all but impossible to gain admission to higher education. She did not participate in the
secular coming of age ceremony Jugendweihe, however, which was common in East Germany.
Instead, she was confirmed. Later, at the Academy of Sciences, she became a member of the
FDJ district board and secretary for "Agitprop" (Agitation and Propaganda). Merkel claimed that
she was secretary for culture. When Merkel's one-time 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."[25] Merkel's progress in the compulsory Marxism
Leninism course was graded only gengend (sufficient, passing grade) in 1983 and 1986.[26]
At school, she learned to speak Russian fluently, and was awarded prizes for her proficiency in
Russian and Mathematics.[27] Merkel was educated in Templin and at theUniversity of Leipzig,
where she studied physics from 1973 to 1978. While a student, she participated in the
reconstruction of the ruin of the Moritzbastei, a project students initiated to create their own club
and recreation facility on campus. Such an initiative was unprecedented in the GDR of that
period, and initially resisted by the University of Leipzig; however, with backing of the local
leadership of the SED party, the project was allowed to proceed.[28] Merkel worked and studied at
the Central Institute for Physical Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin-Adlershof from
1978 to 1990. After being awarded a doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.) for her thesis on quantum chemistry,
[29]
she worked as a researcher and published several papers.

Merkel and Lothar de Maiziere, 1990

In 1989, Merkel got involved in the growing democracy movement after the fall of the Berlin Wall,
joining the new party Democratic Awakening. Following the first (and only) multi-party election of
the East German state, she became the deputy spokesperson of the new preunification caretaker government under Lothar de Maizire.[30] In April 1990, the Democratic
Awakening merged with the East German CDU, which in turn merged with its western
counterpart after reunification.

Early political career

Merkel stood for election at the 1990 federal election, the first since reunification, and was
elected to the Bundestag for the constituency of Stralsund Nordvorpommern Rgen, which is
in the district of Vorpommern-Rgen. She has won re-election for this constituency at the six
federal elections since. After her first election, she was almost immediately appointed to
the Cabinet, serving asMinister for Women and Youth under Chancellor Helmut Kohl. In 1994,
she was promoted to becoming Minister for the Environment and Nuclear Safety, which gave her
greater political visibility and a platform from which to build her political career. As one of Kohl's
protges and his youngest Cabinet Minister, she was frequently referred to by Kohl as "mein
Mdchen" ("my girl").[31]

Leader of the Opposition

After the Kohl Government was defeated at the 1998 election, Merkel was appointed SecretaryGeneral of the CDU, a key position as the party was no longer part of the federal government.
Merkel oversaw a string of CDU election victories in six out of seven state elections in 1999,
breaking the long-standing SPD-Green hold on the Bundesrat. Following a party funding
scandal that compromised many leading figures of the CDUincluding Kohl himself and his
successor as CDU Leader, Wolfgang Schuble, Merkel criticised her former mentor publicly and
advocated a fresh start for the party without him. She was subsequently elected to replace
Schuble, becoming the first female leader of a German party on 10 April 2000. Her election
surprised many observers, as her personality offered a contrast to the party she had been
elected to lead; Merkel is a centrist Protestantoriginating from predominantly Protestant northern
Germany, while the CDU is a male-dominated, socially conservative party with strongholds in
western and southern Germany, and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, has deep Catholic roots.

Merkel with Vladimir Putin, 2002

Following Merkel's election as CDU Leader, she enjoyed considerable popularity among the
German population and polls indicated that many Germans would like to see her
become Chancellor Gerhard Schrder's main challenger in the 2002 election. However, she was
subsequently outmaneuvered politically by CSU Leader Edmund Stoiber, to whom she
eventually ceded the privilege of challenging Schrder. He went on to squander a large lead in
opinion polls to lose the election by a razor-thin margin. After Stoiber's defeat in 2002, in addition
to her role as CDU Leader, Merkel became Leader of the Opposition in the Bundestag; Friedrich
Merz, who had held the post prior to the 2002 election, was eased out to make way for Merkel. [32]
Merkel supported a substantial reform agenda concerning Germany's economic and social
system, and was considered more pro-market than her own party (the CDU). She advocated
German labour law changes, specifically removing barriers to laying off employees and
increasing the allowed number of work hours in a week. She argued that existing laws made the
country less competitive, because companies cannot easily control labour costs when business
is slow.[33]

Merkel argued that Germany should phase out nuclear power less quickly than the Schrder
administration had planned.[34]
Merkel advocated a strong transatlantic partnership and German-American friendship. In the
spring of 2003, defying strong public opposition, Merkel came out in favour of the U.S. invasion
of Iraq, describing it as "unavoidable" and accusing Chancellor Gerhard Schrder of antiAmericanism. She criticised the government's support for the accession of Turkey to the
European Union and favoured a "privileged partnership" instead. In doing so, she reflected public
opinion that grew more hostile toward Turkish membership of the European Union. [35]
On 30 May 2005, Merkel won the CDU/CSU nomination as challenger to Chancellor Gerhard
Schrder of the SPD in the 2005 national elections. Her party began the campaign with a 21point lead over the SPD in national opinion polls, although her personal popularity lagged behind
that of the incumbent. However, the CDU/CSU campaign suffered[36]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.[36]
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's 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 Schrder, and the CDU's lead
was down to 9% on the eve of the election.
On 18 September 2005, Merkel's CDU/CSU and Schrder'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 Schrder 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. [37] The
coalition deal was approved by both parties at party conferences on 14 November 2005.
[38]
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.[39]
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.[40]
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.[41]

Chancellor of Germany

Merkel with President George W. Bush, 2007

On 22 November 2005, Merkel assumed the office of Chancellor of Germany following

a stalemate election that resulted in a grand coalition with the SPD. Her party was re-elected in
2009 with an increased number of seats, and could form a governing coalition with theFDP. In
the election of September 2013 the CDU/CSU parties emerged as winners, but formed another
grand coalition with the SPD due to the FDP's failure to obtain the minimum of 5% of votes
required to enter parliament.[8]

Domestic policy
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",[42] stating that: "The concept that we are now living side by side and
are happy about it" does not work[43] and "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." [44] She
continued to say that immigrants should integrate and adopt Germany's culture and values. This
has added to a growing debate within Germany[45] on the levels of immigration, its effect on
Germany and the degree to which Muslim immigrants have integrated into German society.

Foreign affairs

Angela Merkel meets with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff at the G-20summit in Mexico, 2012

On 25 September 2007, Merkel met the 14th Dalai Lama for "private and informal talks" in
the Chancellery in Berlin amid protest from China. China afterwards cancelled separate talks with
German officials, including talks with Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries.[46]
One of Merkel's priorities was strengthening transatlantic economic relations she signed the
agreement for the Transatlantic Economic Council on 30 April 2007 at the White House. The
Council, co-chaired by an EU and a US official, aims at removing barriers to trade in a further
integrated transatlantic free-trade area.[47] This project has been described as ultra-liberal by the
French left-wing politician Jean-Luc Mlenchon, fearing a transfer of sovereignty from citizens to
multinationals and an alignment of the European Union on the American foreign policy and
institutions.[48][49]
Der Spiegel reported that tensions between Chancellor Merkel and President Barack
Obama[50] eased during a meeting between the two leaders in June 2009. Commenting on a
White House press conference held after the meeting, Der 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".[51]

Merkel and Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, holding a joint press conference, 8 March 2008

In 2006 Merkel expressed concern about overreliance on Russian energy, but she received little
support from others in Berlin.[52]
Merkel favors the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union; but stated
in December 2012 that its implementation depends on reforms in Ukraine. [53]
Merkel has visited Israel four times. On 16 March 2008, 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.[54] Until then, US President George W. Bush had been the only world leader
Olmert had honored by greeting at the airport.[55][56] Merkel spoke before Israel's parliament, the
only foreigner who was not a head of state to have done so, [57] but this provoked rumbles of
opposition from Israeli MPs on the far right.[58] At the time, Merkel was also both the President of
the European Council and the chair of the G8. Merkel has supported Israeli diplomatic initiatives,
opposing the Palestinian bid for membership at the UN. However, Merkel requested that
continued building of settlements beyond the Green Line should stop, [59] and disagreed with the
Israeli government's behavior.[60] Merkel's latest visit to Israel was on 2527 February 2014.
During her visit, Merkel was awarded Israel's highest civilian award by President Shimon Peres,
for her "unwavering commitment to Israel's security and the fight against anti-Semitism and
racism."[61]

Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Merkel, and her husband, Joachim Sauer, 2009

Merkel and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a "Joint Declaration" emphasising the
Indo-German strategic partnership in 2006.[62] It turned the focus of future cooperation onto the
fields of energy, science and technology, and defence. A similar Declaration, signed during
Merkel's visit to India in 2007, noted the substantial progress made in Indo-German relations and
set ambitious goals for their development in the future.[62] The relationship with India on the basis
of cooperation and partnership was further strengthened with Merkel's visit to India in 2011. At
the invitation of the Indian government, the two countries held their first intergovernmental
consultations in New Delhi. These consultations set a new standard in the implementation of the
strategic partnership, as India became only the third non-European country with which Germany
has had this nature of comprehensive consultations.[62] India became the first Asian country to
hold a joint cabinet meeting with Germany during Merkel's state visit.[63]
The Indian government presented the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International
Understanding for the year 2009 to Merkel. A statement issued by the Government of India
stated that the award "recognises her personal devotion and enormous efforts for sustainable

and equitable development, for good governance and understanding and for the creation of a
world better positioned to handle the emerging challenges of the 21st century." [62]
In recognition of the importance of China to the German economy, by 2014 Merkel had led seven
trade delegations to China since assuming office in 2005. The same year, in March, China's
President Xi visited Germany.[64]

Eurozone crisis

Merkel, Polish Prime MinisterDonald Tusk and Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi, 2008

Angela Merkel at the 2012 congress of the European People's Party (EPP)

Following major falls in worldwide stock markets in September 2008, the German government
stepped in to assist the mortgage companyHypo Real Estate with a bailout, which was agreed on
6 October, with German banks to contribute 30 billion and the Bundesbank 20 billion to a credit
line.[65]
On 4 October 2008, a Saturday, following the Irish Government's decision to guarantee all
deposits in private savings accounts, a move she strongly criticised, [66] 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. [67] 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.[68] Other European governments eventually either raised the limits or
promised to guarantee savings in full.[68]

Social expenditure
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, 2013, she started to say that Europe nowadays has only
7% of the global population and produces only 25% of the global GDP, but that it spends almost
50% of the global social expenditure. The solution to the economic ills of the continent only can
consist in raising its competitiveness.[69] Since then, this comparison has become a central
element in major speeches.[70] The international financial press has widely commented on her
thesis, with the Economist saying that:
If Mrs Merkel's vision is pragmatic, so too is her plan for implementing it. It can be boiled down to
three statistics, a few charts and some facts on an A4 sheet of paper. The three figures are 7%,
25% and 50%. Mrs Merkel never tires of saying that Europe has 7% of the world's population,
25% of its GDP and 50% of its social spending. If the region is to prosper in competition with
emerging countries, it cannot continue to be so generous.[71]
adding that:

She produces graphs of unit labour costs [...] at EU meetings in much the same way that the
late Margaret Thatcher used to pull passages from Friedrich Hayek's "Road to Serfdom" from her
handbag.[71]
The Financial Times commented:
Although Ms Merkel stopped short of suggesting that a ceiling on social spending might be one
yardstick for measuring competitiveness, she hinted as much in the light of soaring social
spending in the face of an ageing population.[72][73]

Approval ratings
Midway through her second term, Merkel's approval plummeted in Germany, resulting in heavy
losses in state elections for her party.[74] An August 2011 poll found her coalition had only 36%
support compared to a rival potential coalition's 51%. [75] However, she scored well on her handling
of the recent euro crisis (69% rated her performance as good rather than poor), and her approval
rating reached an all-time high of 77% in February 2012 and again in July 2014. [76] Merkel's
approval rating dropped to 54% in October 2015, during the European migrant crisis, the lowest
since 2011.[77]

Cabinets
The first Cabinet of Angela Merkel was sworn in at 16:00 CET on 22 November 2005. On 31
October 2005, after the defeat of his favoured candidate for the position of Secretary General of
the SPD, Franz Mntefering indicated that he would resign as Party Chairman, which he did in
November. Ostensibly responding to this, Edmund Stoiber (CSU), who was originally nominated
as Minister for Economics and Technology, announced his withdrawal on 1 November 2005.
While this was initially seen as a blow to Merkel's attempt at forming a viable coalition, 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. The second Cabinet of Angela Merkel was sworn in on
28 October 2009.[78]
Angela Merkel at the signing of the coalition agreement for the 18th election period of the Bundestag,
December 2013

In 2013, Merkel won one of the most decisive victories in German history, achieving the best
result for the CDU/CSU since reunification and coming within five seats of the first absolute
majority in the Bundestag since 1957. However, with their preferred coalition partner, the FDP,
failing to enter parliament for the first time since 1949, the CDU/CSU turned to the SPD to form
the third grand coalition in postwar German history and the second under Merkel's leadership.
The third Cabinet of Angela Merkel was sworn in on 17 December 2013.
At the beginning of August 2015, Der Spiegel reported that Merkel had "evidently decided to run
again in 2017".[79]

Personal life
In 1977, Angela Kasner married physics student Ulrich Merkel and took his surname. The
marriage ended in divorce in 1982.[80] 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,[81] became a couple later and married privately on 30 December 1998.[82] She has no
children, but Sauer has two adult sons from a previous marriage. [83] She is a fervent football fan
and has been known to listen to games while in the Bundestag and to attend games of
thenational team in her official capacity.[84][85]
On 6 January 2014, Merkel fractured a bone in her pelvis in a cross-country skiing accident
in Switzerland.[86]

Religion

Angela Merkel is a Lutheran member of the Evangelical Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and
Silesian Upper Lusatia (German: Evangelische Kirche Berlin-Brandenburg-schlesische
Oberlausitz - EKBO), a United Protestant (i.e. both Reformed and Lutheran) church body under
the umbrella of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). The EKBO is a church of
the Prussian Union.[87]

Ancestry
[show]Ancestors of Angela Merkel

Honours and awards

National honours

Germany: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany,
Special Class[88]

India: Recipient of the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding[89]

Israel: Recipient of the President's Medal[90]

Italy: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic[91]

Norway: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit[92]

Peru: Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru

Portugal: Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry

Saudi Arabia: Knight Grand Officer of the Order of Abdulaziz Al Saud

United States: Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom[93][94][95]

Merkel in 2008

Honorary degrees

In 2007, Merkel was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem.[96]
In June 2008, she was awarded the honorary doctorate from Leipzig University.[97]

University of Technology in Wrocaw (Poland) in September 2008[98] and Babe-Bolyai

University from Cluj-Napoca, Romania on 12 October 2010 for her historical contribution to
the European unification and for her global role in renewing international cooperation. [99][100][101]

On 23 May 2013, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Radboud University
Nijmegen.

In November 2013, she was awarded the Honorary Doctorate (Honoris Causa) title by
the University of Szeged.

In November 2014, she was awarded the title Doctor Honoris Causa by Comenius
University in Bratislava.

In September 2015, she was awarded the title Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of
Bern.

Other

In 2006, Angela Merkel was awarded the Vision for Europe Award for her contribution
toward greater European integration.

She received the Karlspreis (Charlemagne Prize) in 2008 for distinguished services to
European unity.[102][103]

In March 2008, she received the B'nai B'rith Europe Award of Merit. [104]
Merkel topped Forbes magazine's list of "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women" in
2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. [105]

New Statesman named Angela Merkel in "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures" 2010.
[106]

On 16 June 2010, the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns
Hopkins University in Washington D.C. awarded Chancellor Merkel its Global Leadership
Award (AICGS) in recognition of her outstanding dedication to strengthening GermanAmerican relations.[107]

On 21 September 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 U.S. 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.[108]

On 31 May 2011, she received the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for the year 2009 from
the Indian government. She received the award for International understanding.[109]

Forbes list of The World's Most Powerful People ranked Merkel as the world's second
most powerful person in 2012, the highest ranking achieved by a woman since the list began
in 2009; she was ranked fifth in 2013 and 2014

On 28 November 2012, she received the Heinz Galinski Award in Berlin, Germany.

India: Indira Gandhi Peace Prize (2013)

In December 2015, she was named Time magazine's Person of the Year.[110]

Comparisons

Conservative leaders meet at congress of European People's Party in 2012

As a female politician from a centre right party who is also 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 had a science degree from Oxford
University in chemistry). Political commentators have debated the precise extent to which their
agendas are similar.[111] Later in her tenure, Merkel acquired the nickname "Mutti" (a German
familiar form of "mother"), said by Der Spiegel to refer to an idealised mother figure from the
1950s and 1960s.[112] She has also been called the "Iron Chancellor", in reference to Otto von
Bismarck.[113]
In addition to being the first female German chancellor, the first to have grown up in the former
East Germany (though she was born in the West[114]), and the youngest German chancellor since
the Second World War, Merkel is also the first born after World War II, and the first chancellor of
the Federal Republic with a background in natural sciences. She studied physics; her
predecessors studied law, business or history or were military officers, among others.

Controversies
Merkel has been criticised for being personally present and involved at the M100 Media Award
handover[115] to Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, who had triggered theMuhammad cartoons
controversy. This happened at a time of fierce emotional debate in Germany over a book by the
former Deutsche Bundesbank executive and finance senator of Berlin Thilo Sarrazin, which was
critical of the Muslim immigration.[116] At the same time she condemned a planned burning of
Korans by a fundamental pastor in Florida.[117] The Central Council of Muslims in Germany[118]
[119]
and the Left Party[120] (Die Linke) as well as the German Green Party[121][122] criticised the action
by the centre-right chancellor. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper wrote: "This will
probably be the most explosive moment of her chancellorship so far." [123] Others have praised
Merkel and called it a brave and bold move for the cause of freedom of speech.
Merkel's position towards the negative statements by Thilo Sarrazin with regard to the integration
problems with Arab and Turkish people in Germany has been critical throughout. According to
her personal statements, Sarrazin's approach is "totally unacceptable" and counterproductive to
the ongoing problems of integration.[124]
Members of her cabinet and Merkel herself also support state schools enabling Islamic religious
instruction (similar to the provision of denominational Christian religious instruction). [125][126][127]
The term alternativlos (German for "without an alternative"), which was frequently used by
Angela Merkel to describe her measures addressing the European sovereign-debt crisis, was
named the Un-word of the Year 2010 by a jury of linguistic scholars. The wording was criticised
as undemocratic, as any discussion on Merkel's politics would thus be deemed unnecessary or
undesirable.[128] The expression is credited for the name of the political party Alternative for
Germany, which was founded in 2013.[129]

Her trademark Merkel-Raute has been described as "probably one of the most recognisable
hand gestures in the world". Its political symbolism received mixed reviews, ranging from being
prominently used by the CDU during the 2013 election campaign, to accusations of a cult of
personality that were brought forth by her opponents.[130]

Protestors rally against NSA's mass surveillance, Berlin, June 2013

In July 2013, Merkel defended the surveillance practices of the NSA, and described the United
States as "our truest ally throughout the decades".[131][132] During a visit of U.S. President Barack
Obama in Berlin, Merkel said on 19 June 2013 in the context of the 2013 mass surveillance
disclosures: "The Internet is virgin soil for us all". ("Das Internet ist Neuland fr uns alle.") Her
sentence led to various internet memes and online mockery of Merkel.[133][134]
Merkel has compared the NSA to the Stasi when it became known that her mobile phone was
tapped by that agency. In responseSusan Rice pledged that the USA will desist from spying on
her personally, but said there would not be a no-espionage agreement between the two
countries.[135]

Merkel with Petro Poroshenko andJoe Biden, 7 February 2015

On 18 July 2014 Merkel said trust between Germany and the United States could only be
restored by talks between the two, and she would seek to have talks. She reiterated the U.S.
remained Germany's most important ally.[136]
In August 2014, Merkel visited Ukraine to show her support for Ukrainian President Petro
Poroshenko.[137] Human Rights Watch said that "Merkel's visit is an opportunity for her to
denounce violations of international humanitarian law by the Ukrainian military." [138]
Her statement "Islam is part of Germany" during a state visit of the Turkish prime minister Ahmet
Davutolu in January 2015[139] induced criticism within her party. The parliamentary group
leader Volker Kauder said that Islam is not part of Germany and that Muslims should deliberate
on the question why so many violent people refer to the Quran.[140]
In October 2015, Horst Seehofer, Bavarian State Premier and leader of CSU, the sister party of
Merkel's CDU, criticised Merkel's policy of allowing in hundreds of thousands of migrants from
the Middle East: "We're now in a state of mind without rules, without system and without order
because of a German decision."[141] Seehofer attacked Merkel policies in sharp language,
threatened to sue the government in the high court, and hinted that the CSU might topple Merkel.
Many MPs of Merkel's CDU party also voices dissatisfaction with Merkel.[142] Chancellor Merkel

insisted that Germany has the economic strength to cope with the influx of migrants and
reiterated that there is no legal maximum limit on the number of migrants Germany can take. [143]

Other
In 2015, an open letter the ONE Campaign had collected signatures for was addressed to her
and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, urging them to focus on women as they serve as the head of the
G7 in Germany and the AU in South Africa respectively, which will start to set the priorities in
development funding before a main UN summit in September 2015 that will establish new
development goals for the generation.[144]

In the arts and media

Merkel features as a main character in two of the three plays that make up the Europeans Trilogy
("Bruges", "Antwerp", "Tervuren") by Paris-based UK playwright Nick Awde: "Bruges" (Edinburgh
Festival, 2014) and "Tervuren" (2016). A character named Merkel, accompanied by a sidekick
called Schuble, also appears as the sinister female henchman in Michael Paraskos's novel In
Search of Sixpence.[145]

Notes
1.

Jump up^ The correct pronunciation of her first name is unclear. There are two
documented pronunciations of the name Angela: [aela] and [aela].[1] According to her
biographer, Merkel prefers the pronunciation with stress on the second syllable [2] ([aela] with a
long 'e', as in German: Beet,[1]:12 similar to the vowel sound of the English word say especially
in Lancashire dialect). This pronunciation is more common in Austria.[3][4] German newsreaders
have also used other pronunciations, such as [ala] and [ala] [citation
needed]
. Merkel is pronounced [mkl]l .[5][6]

References
1.

^ Jump up to:a b Mangold, Max, ed. (1995). Duden, Aussprachewrterbuch (in German)
(6th ed.). Dudenverlag. p. 156. ISBN 978-3-411-20916-3. Angela aela auch: aela.

2.

Jump up^ Langguth, Gerd (2005). Angela Merkel (in German). Munich: dtv.
p. 50. ISBN 3-423-24485-2. Merkel wollte immer mit der Betonung auf dem 'e' Angela genannt
werden. (Merkel always wanted her first name pronounced with the stress on the 'e'.)

3.

Jump up^ Duden, ed. (1996). Duden, Die deutsche Rechtschreibung (in German) (21st
ed.). Dudenverlag. p. 112. ISBN 978-3-411-04011-7. An|ge|la (sterr: aela)

4.

Jump up^ "Angela". Duden Online. Retrieved 21 March 2015.

5.

Jump up^ Mangold, Max, ed. (1995). Duden, Aussprachewrterbuch (in German) (6th
ed.). Dudenverlag. p. 548. ISBN 978-3-411-20916-3. Merkel mrkll

6.

Jump up^ Krech, Eva-Maria; Stock, Eberhard; Hirschfeld, Ursula; Anders, Lutz Christian;
et al., eds. (2009). Deutsches Aussprachewrterbuch (1st ed.). Walter de Gruyter.
p. 739. ISBN 978-3-11-018202-6. Merkel mkll

7.

Jump up^ "Germany's Merkel begins new term". BBC. 28 October 2009. Archived from
the original on 31 October 2009. Retrieved 1 November 2009.

8.

^ Jump up to:a b "German Chancellor Angela Merkel makes a hat-trick win in 2013
Elections". Retrieved 23 September 2013.

9.

Jump up^ "Angela Merkel faces outright rebellion within her own party over refugee
crisis". The Telegraph. Retrieved 24 January 2016.

10.

Jump up^ Balasubramanyam, Ranjitha (16 September 2013). "All Eyes on

Berlin". Foreign Policy Journal. Retrieved 23 September 2013.

11.

Jump up^ Gayle, Damien (18 July 2012). "50 Shades of Angela Merkel: German
Chancellor's outfits recreated as Pantone colour chart (but none of them are very sexy)". Daily
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12.

Jump up^ Francis, David (22 September 2013). ""Mama" Merkel May Win Germany, But
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13.

Jump up^ Wagele, Elizabeth (16 July 2012). "What Personality Type is Angela
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Jump up^ "Angela Merkel 'world's most powerful woman'". The Daily
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15.

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Jump up^ Gibbs, Nancy (9 December 2015). "Why Angela Merkel is TIME's Person of
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Jump up^ Allegretti, Aubrey (27 May 2015). "Angela Merkel Tops World's 100 Most
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18.

Jump up^ Langguth, Gerd (August 2005). Angela Merkel. DTV (in German).
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19.

Jump up^ "Merkels Vater gestorben Termine abgesagt" (in German). newsecho. 3
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20.

Jump up^ "Was an Angela Merkels Mutter vorbildlich ist". Welt Online (in German). 26
September 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2010. 'Nein, in der SPD bin ich nicht mehr.'

21.

Jump up^ Kornelius, Stefan (March 2013). Angela Merkel: Die Kanzlerin und ihre
Welt (in German). Hoffmann und Campe. p. 7. ISBN 978-3455502916.

22.

^ Jump up to:a b Stefan Kornelius (10 September 2013). "Six things you didn't know about
Angela Merkel". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 September 2013. Retrieved29
October 2013.

23.

Jump up^ "The German chancellor's Polish roots". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the
originalon 27 March 2013.

24.

Jump up^ "Merkel hat polnische Wurzeln" [Merkel has Polish roots]. Sddeutsche
Zeitung. 13 March 2013. Archived from the original on 17 March 2013.

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Jump up^ "Die Schlferin". Der Spiegel (in German). 9 November 2009. Archived from
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meiner Erinnerung war ich Kultursekretrin. Aber was wei ich denn? Ich glaube, wenn ich 80 bin,
wei ich gar nichts mehr", sagt sie

27.

Jump up^ Langguth, Gerd (August 2005). Angela Merkel (in German). DTV.
p. 50. ISBN 3-423-24485-2.

28.

Jump up^ "Drogenwahn auf der Dauerbaustelle". Der Spiegel (in German). 27 March
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29.

Jump up^ Merkel, Angela (1986). Untersuchung des Mechanismus von

Zerfallsreaktionen mit einfachem Bindungsbruch und Berechnung ihrer
Geschwindigkeitskonstanten auf der Grundlage quantenchemischer und statistischer Methoden
(Investigation of the mechanism of decay reactions with single bond breaking and calculation of
their velocity constants on the basis of quantum chemical and statistical methods) (in German).
Berlin: Academy of Sciences of the German Democratic Republic (dissertation). cited
in Langguth, Gerd (August 2005). Angela Merkel (in German). Munich: DTV. p. 109. ISBN 3-42324485-2. and listed in the Catalogue of the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek under subject code 30
(Chemistry)

30.

Jump up^ Langguth, Gerd (August 2005) [2005]. Angela Merkel (in German). Munich:
DTV. pp. 112137. ISBN 3-423-24485-2.

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Jump up^ "Kohls unterschtztes Mdchen". Spiegel Online (in German). 30 May
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32.

Jump up^ "Opposition meltdown: The great disintegration act". Spiegel Online. 2004-1022. Retrieved 2015-11-28.

33.

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2003. Archivedfrom the original on 29 May 2003. Retrieved 27 August 2011.

34.

Jump up^ "Merkel: Nuclear phase-out is wrong". World Nuclear News. 10 June
2008. Archivedfrom the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.

35.

Jump up^ Marlies Casier and Joost Jongerden, eds. Nationalisms and Politics in
Turkey (2010) p 110

36.

^ Jump up to:a b Saunders, Doug (2005-09-14). "Popular flat-tax movement hits brick wall
in Germany". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2015-11-28.

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2005. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2011.

38.

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39.

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2005. Archived from the original on 9 December 2005.

40.

Jump up^ "German coalition poised for power". BBC News. 11 November
2005. Archived from the original on 25 November 2005.

41.

Jump up^ "Merkel defends German reform plan". BBC News. 12 November
2005. Archivedfrom the original on 15 March 2006.

42.

Jump up^ "Merkel says German multicultural society has failed". BBC News. 17 October
2010.Archived from the original on 17 October 2010.

43.

Jump up^ "Merkel Says German Multi-Cultural Society Has Failed". Yahoo! News. 17
October 2007. Archived from the original on 18 October 2010. Retrieved 18 December 2013.

44.

Jump up^ "Zentralrat der Juden kritisiert Seehofer: Debatte ist scheinheilig und
hysterisch".Sdwestrundfunk (in German). Archived from the original on 1 October 2013.
Retrieved21 October 2010. Wir fhlen uns dem christlichen Menschenbild verbunden, das ist das,
was uns ausmacht. Wer das nicht akzeptiert, der ist bei uns fehl am Platz

45.

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2010. Archivedfrom the original on 16 October 2010. Retrieved 2011.

46.

Jump up^ "Merkel meets with the Dalai Lama". Euronews. Archived from the original on
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47.

Jump up^ "Enterprise policies" (PDF). European Council. Retrieved 11 September 2012.

48.

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French).Dailymotion. 21 April 2009. Retrieved 11 September 2012.

49.

Jump up^ "Intervention de Jean-Luc Mlenchon sur la Dfense". Dailymotion. 4 April

2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.

50.

Jump up^ "'They're Not Getting any Warmer': Merkel Faces Difficult Talks in
Washington".Spiegel Online. 23 June 2009. Archived from the original on 24 June 2009.
Retrieved2 March 2010.

51.

Jump up^ Gregor Peter Schmitz. "A Trans-Atlantic Show of Friendship: Obama Praises
His 'Friend Chancellor Merkel'". Spiegel Online. Archived from the original on 28 July 2010.
Retrieved 2 March 2010.

52.

Jump up^ "Dependence on Russian gas worries some but not all European
countries". The Christian Science Monitor. 6 March 2008. Archived from the original on 8
November 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2011.

53.

Jump up^ "Klitschko, Merkel discuss prospects for signing EU-Ukraine association
agreement".Kyiv Post. Interfax-Ukraine. 5 December 2012. Archived from the original on 5
December 2012.

54.

Jump up^ "Chancellor of Germany goes to Israel". The New York Times. 16 March
2008.Archived from the original on 18 June 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2011.

55.

Jump up^ Roger Boyes (18 March 2008). "German Chancellor Angela Merkel tightens
ties for Israel's 60th". The Australian (Berlin). Archived from the original on 21 March 2008.
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56.

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57.

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2008.Archived from the original on 16 September 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2011.

58.

Jump up^ MacIntyre, Donald (13 March 2008). "Israeli hardliners 'will walk out' when
Merkel addresses Knesset in German". The Independent (London). Archived from the original on
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59.

Jump up^ "Merkel: Israel Must Stop Settlement Building". Jewish Federations of North
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60.

Jump up^ Keinon, Herb (31 January 2011). "PM, Merkel disagree openly on
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May 2012.

61.

Jump up^ "Merkel arrives in Israel to talk peace". Haaretz. 24 February

2014. Archived from the original on 24 February 2014.

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^ Jump up to:a b c d "Germany and India Celebrating 60 Years of Diplomatic

relations". India.Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2012.

63.

Jump up^ Audrey Kauffmann (31 May 2011). "Angela Merkel in India for joint cabinet
meet". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 8
September2011.

64.

Jump up^ "Angela Merkel sets off for China to forge new economic ties". Herald
Globe.Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2014.

65.

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Government-Led Bailout". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 6
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accounts". Forbes. Archivedfrom the original on 23 April 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2008.

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Jump up^ Among others, in her speech on the occasion of her honorary doctoral degree
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72.

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Retrieved2016-02-24.

73.

Jump up^ The economist Arno Tausch from Corvinus University in Budapest, in a paper
published by the Social Science Research Network in New York has contended that a re-analysis
of the Merkel hypothesis about the distribution of global social expenditure based on 169
countries for which we have recent ILO Social Protection data and World Bank GNI data inreal
purchasing power reveals that the 27 EU countries with complete data spend only 33% of global
world social protection expenditures, while the 13 non-EU-OECD members, among them the
major other Western democracies, spend 40% of global social protection expenditures,
the BRICS 18% and the Rest of the World 9% of global social protection expenditures. Most
probably, the author claims, Merkel's 50% ratio is the product of a mere, simple projection of data
for the OECD-member countries onto the world level
<http://www.oecd.org/social/expenditure.htm>. Tausch also claims that the data reveal the
successful social Keynesianism of the Anglo-Saxon overseas democracies, which are in stark
contrast to the savings agenda in the framework of the European "fiscal pact", see Tausch, Arno,
Wo Frau Kanzlerin Angela Merkel Irrt: Der Sozialschutz in Der Welt, Der Anteil Europas Und Die
Beurteilung Seiner Effizienz (Where Chancellor Angela Merkel Got it Wrong: Social Protection in
the World, Europe's Share in it and the Assessment of its Efficiency) (September 4, 2015).
Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2656113 orhttp://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2656113

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contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, or cultural or
other significant public or private endeavors

95.

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Thatcher?". Slate.Archived from the original on 8 July 2005.

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113.

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114.

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115.

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September 2010.Archived from the original on 2 October 2012.

116.

Jump up^ "The Sarrazin Debate: Germany Is Becoming Islamophobic". Spiegel

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117.

Jump up^ Connor, Richard (8 September 2010). "Merkel defends 'Muhammad'

cartoonist, condemns Koran-burning". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 2 May 2014.

118.

Jump up^ BBC: Germany's Central Muslim Council (Zentralrat der Muslime in
Deutschland) criticised Mrs. Merkel for attending the award ceremony. 8 September 2010. A ZMD
spokesman, Aiman Mazyek, told public broadcaster Deutschlandradio that the Chancellor was
honouring someone "who in our eyes kicked our prophet, and therefore kicked all Muslims". He
said giving Mr Westergaard the prize in a "highly charged and heated time" was "highly
problematic".

119.

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Jump up^ Michael Paraskos, In Search of Sixpence (London: Friction Press, 2016)

Further reading

Skard, Torild (2014) "Angela Merkel" in Women of Power Half a Century of Female
Presidents and Prime Ministers Worldwide, Bristol: Policy Press, ISBN 978-1-44731-578-0