Friedrich Merz Fast Facts
CNN Editorial Research
(CNN) — Here’s a look at the life Friedrich Merz, chancellor of Germany.
Personal
Birth date: November 11, 1955
Birth place: Brilon, Germany
Birth name: Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz
Father: Joachim Merz, judge
Mother: Paula Sauvigny
Marriage: Charlotte Gass (1981-present)
Children: Three
Education: Studied law at the University of Bonn and the University of Marburg, graduating in 1985.
Military service: 1975–1976
Religion: Catholic
Other Facts
Merz has a hardline stance on migration. He has called for asylum-seekers arriving from other European Union member states to be rejected at Germany’s land borders.
Merz has criticized liberal welfare benefits. He has promised to slash welfare spending, telling The Economist in a rare sit-down interview in the lead-up to the February 2025 election that he wants to avoid “paying people who are not willing to work.”
In 2003, Merz argued that German tax rules should be simple enough to calculate on the back of a beer coaster.
Merz is an amateur pilot.
Timeline
1972 – Joins the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
1985-1986 – Judge at Saarbrücken District Court.
1986-1989 – Lawyer for the German Chemical Industry Association.
1989 – Is elected to the European Parliament.
1994 – Wins a seat in the Bundestag.
2000 – Loses to Angela Merkel in a CDU party leadership election.
2009 – Merz leaves the Bundestag and joins the private sector, working as a lawyer.
2021 – Returns to his previous seat in the Bundestag.
January 2022 – After two failed bids for CDU party leadership, in 2018 and 2021, Merz is selected to lead the party.
February 23, 2025 – CDU and its sister party wins the federal election. Merz will likely be the next chancellor of Germany.
April 9, 2025 – Announces he will form a coalition with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD).
May 6, 2025 – Merz is approved as chancellor of Germany. He had fallen six votes short earlier in the day.
September 2026 – The results of regional elections in the eastern region of Saxony-Anhalt, the north-eastern region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the city of Berlin show that voters are abandoning the CDU –– the mainstream conservative party of Merkel, Konrad Adenauer and Merz –– in droves in favor of the fringes, most notably the far-right, pro-Russia and anti-migration Alternative for Germany (AfD). Merz conceded that the results were “dramatic,” “unprecedented” and “a heavy blow,” but following a meeting of party leaders, he vows to stay on.
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