Angela Merkel

Angela Dorothea Merkel (born July 17, 1954 in Hamburg) is a German politician and the conservative opposition's candidate to become Chancellor of Germany in the German federal election, 2005. "Angie" is another popular nickname for Merkel, used by supporters.

Background

She was born Angela Dorothea Kasner, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor and a teacher. In 1954 her father received a pastorship at a church in the east and moved his family to Templin. Merkel grew up in the countryside only 80km north of Berlin in the communist German Democratic Republic (DDR, from the German Deutsche Demokratische Republik). She was educated in Templin and at the University of Leipzig, where she studied physics (1973-1978). Merkel worked and studied at the Central Institute for Physical Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences (1978-1990). After graduating with a doctorate in physics she worked in quantum chemistry.

Related Topics:
Lutheran - 1954 - Berlin - Communist - German Democratic Republic - Templin - University of Leipzig - 1973 - 1978 - 1990 - Quantum chemistry

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In 1989 she got involved in the growing democracy movement after the fall of the Berlin Wall, joining the new party, "Demokratischer Aufbruch". Following the first democratic election in the DDR, she became the deputy spokesperson of the new government under Lothar de Maizière. Following the first post-reunification general election in December 1990, she became Minister for Women and Youth in Helmut Kohl's cabinet. In 1994, she was made Minister for the Environment and Reactor Safety something that gave her greater political visability and a platform to build her political career. One of Kohl's protegees, she was considered a political lightweight, and was referred to as das Mädchen (the girl) by Kohl.

Related Topics:
1989 - Democracy - Fall of the Berlin Wall - Demokratischer Aufbruch - Lothar de Maizière - 1994

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According to an article in der Spiegel, her background from the former DDR has served her well in politics. For the first 36 years of her life, she honed her skills at disguising her inner thoughts and feelings -- essential for survival in a society where every room had the potential to contain a State Security Police (Stasi) informer, especially true for a pastor's daughter. Speaking near perfect English and remarking on her background as an "Ossi" she says, "Anyone who really has something to say doesn't need make-up." She is married to Joachim Sauer.

Related Topics:
Der Spiegel - Stasi - Ossi - Make-up - Joachim Sauer

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