Personalities - Chancellor Merkel celebrates 70th birthday in private circle
Chancellor Angela Merkel celebrates her 70th birthday today - in private. "Former Chancellor Dr. Merkel will spend her birthday in a private circle," a spokesperson for Merkel told the German Press Agency in Berlin. "As for private inquiries, Former Chancellor Merkel has consistently refused to provide information during her active political career," the spokesperson added. "Her stance on such inquiries has not changed even after leaving office."
Many politicians have already congratulated Merkel and paid tribute to her work. Well-wishes came even from Gerhard Schröder, whom the CDU politician replaced as Chancellor after the 2005 Federal Elections. "She is an exceptional politician among all political adversaries and opponents. I wish Merkel a typical northern German charm, her ability to irony, and even self-irony," Schröder told the magazine "Stern."
Bundestag President Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid tribute to her as an "example and a trademark of our democracy." Merkel significantly shaped the path of reunified Germany as Chancellor.
Bavaria's Minister-President Markus Söder told dpa: "Happy 70th birthday – to a great life's work for the most significant living political figure in Germany." The CSU and Merkel had a tumultuous relationship at the beginning - "that also applied to me," Söder conceded. There were indeed significant differences in migration policy. "But during the Corona pandemic, everything has changed for me," Söder said.
Evangelical Pastor's Daughter, Physicist, Chancellor
Merkel was born on July 17, 1954, in Hamburg. Her father takes up a pastoral position in Brandenburg - Merkel grows up in the former GDR. After a physics degree at the University of Leipzig, she works as a research assistant at the Central Institute for Physical Chemistry at the Academy of Sciences. Since the political upheaval in the East, she has been politically engaged. Before reunification on October 3, 1990, Merkel is deputy government spokesperson in the first freely elected DDR government under Minister-President Lothar de Maizière.
In 1990, Merkel is elected to the Bundestag. She becomes Minister for Women and later the Environment. From 2000 to 2018, she leads the CDU. Through Merkel's 16 years as Chancellor, crises seem to follow like a red thread: among others, the financial and banking crisis, the Euro crisis, the refugee crisis, the climate crisis, and the Corona crisis. In addition, there was a transatlantic crisis with the then US President Donald Trump and an internal union crisis with the then CSU chief and Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer during the strong surge in refugee numbers in 2015/16.
Merkel does not run for the Bundestag election in 2021. In connection with the Russian aggression war in Ukraine, critics accuse her of a naive approach to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Many see her as responsible for Germany's long-term dependence on Russian natural gas.
CDU Birthday Celebration for Merkel at the End of September
A CDU birthday celebration for Merkel is planned for September 25. Then, at the Berlin Academy of Sciences, there is a festival in the context of the CDU series "Berliner Gespräche," and Kunsthistoriker Horst Bredekamp is scheduled to give a lecture, as Party Chairman Friedrich Merz has already announced.
With anticipation, the political memories of the former Chancellor are expected to be published on November 26th. The memoirs, co-authored with her long-time bureau chief Beate Baumann, are titled "Freedom. Memories 1954 - 2021". According to the publisher Kiepenheuer & Witsch, the book is expected to be published worldwide in over 30 countries. The book is said to be around 700 pages long.
"Personally, I have never told it like this before: about my childhood, youth, and studies in the GDR and the dramatic year 1989, when the Wall fell and my political life began," the announcement for the publication reads.
Merkel and Freedom
Merkel herself is quoted by the publisher as saying, "What is freedom for me? This question has occupied me my entire life. Politically, of course, because freedom requires democratic conditions, without democracy there is no freedom, no rule of law, no protection of human rights. But it also occupies me on another level. Freedom – for me, it's about finding my own limits and going beyond them."
In 2002, Merkel displaced Friedrich Merz as chairman of the Union faction in the Bundestag. The relationship between the current party and Union faction leader and the former Chancellor is considered heavily strained. Merkel did not follow an invitation to the CDU party congress in May. Some in the CDU accuse her of distancing herself from her party. In December 2020, Merkel withdrew from the CDU-affiliated Konrad-Adenauer Foundation.
- Despite the celebration of Chancellor Angela Merkel's birthday being private, many politicians from Germany and beyond have expressed their congratulations and tributes, including former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.
- Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the President of the Federal Parliament, commended Merkel as an "example and a trademark of our democracy," recognizing her significant impact on reunified Germany.
- Bavaria's Minister-President Markus Söder also extended his wishes, acknowledging Merkel as the most significant living political figure in Germany.
- Merkel was born in Hamburg on July 17, 1954, and grew up in the former East Germany (GDR), where her father served as a pastor.
- After obtaining a physics degree from the University of Leipzig, Merkel worked as a research assistant at the Central Institute for Physical Chemistry in the Academy of Sciences, East Germany.
- Following the political upheaval in East Germany, Merkel became politically active and served as deputy government spokesperson in the first freely elected government of East Germany under Minister-President Lothar de Maizière before reunification in 1990.
- After her election to the Bundestag in 1990, Merkel served as Minister for Women and later the Environment before leading the CDU from 2000 to 2018.
- Throughout her 16-year tenure as Chancellor, Merkel navigated multiple crises, from financial and banking crises to the refugee crisis and the Coronavirus pandemic.
- Angela Merkel's memoirs, co-authored with her long-time bureau chief Beate Baumann, are set to be published on November 26, with an anticipated worldwide release in over 30 countries.
- The publication of Merkel's memoirs promises an intimate look into her life, from her upbringing in East Germany to her political career, addressing the question of what freedom means to her.
