Friedrich Merz

Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz (born 11 November 1955) is a German politician serving as <a href="/facts/Chancellor_of_Germany/NHWTh4Tt">Chancellor of Germany</a> since 6 May 2025. He has also served as <a href="/facts/Leader_of_the_Christian_Democratic_Union/5x8h4qv2">Leader of the Christian Democratic Union</a> (CDU) since January 2022, leading the <a href="/facts/CDU%2fCSU/e75o7Dyj">CDU/CSU</a> (Union) <a href="/facts/Parliamentary_group/4SSNPoIx">parliamentary group</a> as <a href="/facts/Leader_of_the_Opposition_(Germany)/86Yh8DkL">Leader of the Opposition</a> in the <a href="/facts/Bundestag/RN6CPKa2">Bundestag</a> from February 2022 to May 2025.
Merz was born in <a href="/facts/Brilon/3tvXE0a2">Brilon</a> in the state of <a href="/facts/North_Rhine-Westphalia/0QmCWxjo">North Rhine-Westphalia</a> in <a href="/facts/West_Germany/oCydk787">West Germany</a>. He joined the <a href="/facts/Young_Union/ayyVWQEB">Young Union</a> in 1972. After finishing law school in 1985, Merz worked as a judge and <a href="/facts/Corporate_lawyer/tlccAUGg">corporate lawyer</a> before entering full-time politics in 1989 when he was elected to the <a href="/facts/European_Parliament/H9WLUd1r">European Parliament</a>. As a young politician in the 1970s and 1980s, Merz was a staunch supporter of <a href="/facts/Anti-communism/bJuolzxo">anti-communism</a>, the dominant political <a href="/facts/Doctrine/MtDwPUVg">doctrine</a> of West Germany and a core tenet of the CDU. He is seen as a representative of the traditional establishment conservative and pro-business wings of the CDU. His book Mehr Kapitalismus wagen (Venturing More Capitalism) advocates <a href="/facts/Economic_liberalism/FVN7C4Le">economic liberalism</a>. After serving one term he was elected to the <a href="/facts/Bundestag/RN6CPKa2">Bundestag</a>, where he established himself as the leading financial policy expert in the CDU. He was elected chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in 2000, the same year as <a href="/facts/Angela_Merkel/n7jjpybM">Angela Merkel</a> was elected chairwoman of the CDU, and at the time they were chief rivals for the leadership of the party, which led the opposition together with <a href="/facts/Christian_Social_Union_in_Bavaria/h7KTTmK4">CSU</a>.
After the <a href="/facts/2002_German_federal_election/rgNfcwDz">2002 federal election</a>, Merkel claimed the parliamentary group chairmanship for herself, while Merz was elected deputy parliamentary group leader. In December 2004, he resigned from this office, thereby giving up the years-long power struggle with Merkel and gradually withdrew from politics, focusing on his legal career and leaving parliament entirely in 2009, until his return to parliament in 2021. In 2004, he became a senior counsel with <a href="/facts/Mayer_Brown/l8THzkSE">Mayer Brown</a>, where he has focused on mergers and acquisitions, banking and finance, and compliance. He has served on the boards of numerous companies, including <a href="/facts/BlackRock/bQWj1qcj">BlackRock Germany</a>. A corporate lawyer and reputed multimillionaire, Merz is also a licensed <a href="/facts/Private_pilot/PI8uaTH5">private pilot</a> and owns two aeroplanes. In 2018, he announced his return to politics. He was elected CDU leader in December 2021, assuming the office in January 2022. He had failed to win the position in two previous leadership elections <a href="/facts/2018_Christian_Democratic_Union_of_Germany_leadership_election/999DnCMg">in 2018</a>, and <a href="/facts/January_2021_Christian_Democratic_Union_of_Germany_leadership_election/2vBz2c2d">January 2021</a>. In September 2024, he became the Union's candidate for Chancellor of Germany ahead of the <a href="/facts/2025_German_federal_election/vjlpEcEN">2025 German federal election</a>. The CDU/CSU subsequently reached an agreement to form a coalition with the <a href="/facts/SPD/GyXlKgqJ">SPD</a>. Merz was elected chancellor on 6 May 2025 in a second round of voting, after unexpectedly failing to garner the required absolute majority of parliamentary votes in the first round of voting – a first in German history.
As chancellor, he has taken steps to ensure fiscal responsibility and border security. An early issue that arose at the start of his chancellorship has been the <a href="/facts/Alternative_for_Germany/kTCco2TS">designation of the AfD as extremist</a>. In foreign policy, he is a staunch supporter of the <a href="/facts/European_Union/6GYcR8qM">European Union</a>, <a href="/facts/NATO/dCeTddMY">NATO</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Liberal_international_order/3kmBnTYo">liberal international order</a>, having described himself as "a truly convinced European, a convinced Transatlanticist, and a German open to the world". Merz advocates a <a href="/facts/Ever_closer_union/1h19Fygh">closer union</a> and "<a href="/facts/European_army/rDpJzIrn">an army for Europe</a>".. Prior to the <a href="/facts/Second_presidency_of_Donald_Trump/a3CUnzUu">second presidency of Donald Trump</a>, he was frequently described as being "exceptionally pro-American", and was once the chairman of the <a href="/facts/Atlantik-Br%25C3%25BCcke/MCf1KRUU">Atlantik-Brücke</a> association which promotes German-American friendship and <a href="/facts/Atlanticism/Jv15gmSh">Atlanticism</a>.

Friedrich Merz open-in-new

Friedrich Merz