What you should know about Friedrich Merz – Diepresse.com

For Friedrich Merz It is probably the greatest triumph of his political career – the election as the German head of government. The 69-year-old leads the union out of CDU and the Bavarian sister party CSU After only about three and a half years in the opposition as a chancellor, back to power – even if two votes were necessary for the first time in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany on Tuesday to get the necessary votes.

Merz was considered politically written off for a long time and had meanwhile decided on a career in the economy. The politician from the Sauerland region in the German Land of North Rhine-Westphalia fought his way back to the political top.

After the CDU boss at that time Angela Merkel Merz worked for the US investment company in 2002 as an Union faction leader Black rock And collected economic competence. It was only in the third attempt and 20 years later that after the withdrawal of Merkel, he became CDU leader and chairman of the Union faction.

Sauerländer, lawyer, more conservative

Born on November 11, 1955 in Brilon in Sauerland, Merz initially became a judge in 1985, shortly afterwards he worked as a lawyer. In 1989 he moved into the European Parliament in Strasbourg, in 1994 he became a member of the Bundestag for the Hochsauerland constituency.

Merz positioned himself early as a conservative. As a good speaker, he was quickly considered a hope of hope, and in terms of content he was a financial expert. In February 2000, at the height of the CDU party donation scandal, he became the successor to 96 percent of Wolfgang Schäuble elected chairman of the Union faction.

Merz shaped the controversial term by the « German leading culture ». In October 2003 he presented cornerstones of a radical tax reform, which should be explained with three stages on a beer lid. « The beer lid is dead. Forget the beer lid, » says Merz today.

The greatest defeat

Merz has probably not wounded that the then CDU chairman and later long-term chancellor Angela Merkel, Angela Merkel, was displaced in 2002 from the post of the Union faction leader and opposition leader in the Bundestag. Until 2009 Merz stayed in the Bundestag, then retired from the political stage. He worked as a lawyer, went to supervisory boards of numerous companies and was head of the German branch of the US investment company Blackrock.

From the polarizer to a reconciler

In the CDU, Merz was long considered a polarizer. In his own ranks, however, he is certified that he has united the CDU again after the loss of power in 2021. The relationship with the CSU, broken up at Merkel’s time, gave him a tough course in migration policy.

However, political opponents can still put Merz on the palm with polarizing statements. This was shown in the election campaign, for example, when he allowed it in the Bundestag in the migration debate that the AfD helped a union application to the majority.

The family man

Merz comes from a family of lawyers, he is married to a judge. The couple lives in Arnsberg in the Hochsauerland. Merz has already announced that he also wants to keep his first place of residence there as a chancellor. Charlotte Merz is the director of the Arnsberg district court. The couple has three adult children, a son and two daughters, as well as seven grandchildren. Merz is considered a family man. Last summer, Merz advised in the family about whether one wanted to expect the Chancellor’s job’s burdens.

When asked by the « Bild » newspaper whether he has already commissioned a children’s play room in the Chancellery, Merz said in mid-April: « No, and the family will stay outside, in the literal sense. » He added « the family should be affected by this office as little as possible ». Charlotte Merz said in the election campaign that she and her husband supported each other. « Ultimately, the source of strength is the home base in the Sauerland. »