Friedrich Merz, is all set to become the new chancellor of Germany after his conservative party – Christian Democratic Union (CDU) – defeated Olaf Scholz’s centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the 2025 Germany elections.
Merz’s party has a bloc with Christian Social Union (CSU). The bloc won 28.5 per cent of total votes. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) received 20.7 per cent votes.
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On Sunday (Feb 23) after his party headed for the big win, Merz told his supporters, “Germany will once more be governed reliably.”
Who is Friedrich Merz?
Merz was born on November 11, 1955 in a family having a strong background of legal practice in Germany. In 1972, Merz joined CDU and started studying law in 1976.
In 1982, Merz married Charlotte Merz – the then a fellow lawyer and now a judge. The couple share three children together.
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Merz was elected to the European Parliament in 1989. In 1994 – after winning an absolute majority Hochsauerlandkreis constituency – he made his way to the Bundestag, the German federal parliament.
He held several key positions in his party and in the year 2000, he was chosen as the party’s parliamentary leader. He remained on the position for two years.
In 2005, he had a political setback. The CDU/CSU bloc formed a government in Germany along with SPD, but Merz was sidelined. He decided to leave active politics in 2009.
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For the next 10 years, he remained in a fantastic career in law and finance.
In 2018, Angela Merkel – who replaced him as the party’s parliamentary leader in 2002 – announced her retirement after which Merz made his comeback in politics. But he lost his bid to take the position of Merkel. In 2020, he again couldn’t make it to the party’s top position.
It was 2021 and his third try when Merz came back in Germany’s parliament and the next year, he became CDU’s national chairman.
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(With inputs from agencies)