WORLD NEWS
November 22, 2005
Germany Chooses Its First Female Leader
Angela Merkel is Germany's first female chancellor
 Angela Merkel |
Lawmakers in Germany made history this week when they elected the country’s first female chancellor. Angela Merkel was elected Tuesday by a 397-202 vote. Twelve lawmakers did not vote.
Merkel, a conservative, is the leader of the Christian Democratic Union. She is Germany’s eighth leader since World War II. She will take over for Gerhard Schroeder, who served as Germany’s chancellor for seven years. Schroeder’s government lost in the country’s September 18 election.
 |  Outgoing German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (right) congratulates new Chancellor Angela Merkel. |
Well Wishes for Merkel
After the vote was announced, Schroeder was the first to congratulate Merkel. He presented her with flowers. Merkel expressed her thanks and said: "You can be sure that I will handle with responsibility the things that made you a German chancellor whom people will remember fondly."
Many others also passed along their good wishes. "Dear Mrs. Merkel, you are the first democratically elected female head of government in Germany," parliament president Norbert Lammert said. "That is a strong signal for women and certainly for some men, too."
Challenges Ahead
Merkel will face many tough challenges including a lack of jobs and slow economic growth. Eleven percent of the German working population is unemployed, or does not have a job. She will lead alongside members of the Social Democrats (SPD), the party that used to rule Germany. Merkel hopes to smooth relations with the United States which were strained because Schroeder was against the war in Iraq.
About Merkel
Born in Hamburg, Merkel is the daughter a Lutheran pastor. She grew up in what was formerly the communist eastern part of Germany. At a young age, Merkel became very interested in languages, math and science. She earned a doctorate degree in physics and worked as a chemist.
In 1989, Merkel became involved in a growing democracy movement. After the Berlin Wall came down, she got a job as government spokeswoman following the first democratic elections. She then joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), her current party. Three months later, she was appointed to a Cabinet position.
