The Beginning of a Political Career
“It seems to me that the fact that I am a woman is a bigger issue than the fact that I'm from the East. For me it isn't really important. I've only ever known myself as a woman.” - Angela Merkel
*Merkel joined Daniela Dahn’s group “Demokratischer Aufbruch”, or the “Democratic Awakening”, after the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989.
*In 1990, she briefly served as the deputy spokeswoman for the government of conservative Lothar de Maiziere, the last prime minister of East Germany before unification.
*After the German unification, Merkel would become elected to the Bundestag at the first post-unification election. (The Bundestag is a part of the German government that is the elected representation of the German people.)
*Merkel’s party merged with the west German Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and she became the Minister for Women and Youth in Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s cabinet.
*In 1994 she was made Minister for the Environment and Nuclear Safety, which was the stepping stone that really gave her a platform in which to get some visibility as a serious political figure.
*Chancellor Helmut Kohl not only appointed Merkel in these important positions, he was also noted as making her his protégé and entrusting her with many responsibilities.
*Eventually, with Kohl’s support, she would be elected as the deputy party leader.
*She eventually would distance herself from Kohl, as he was later ousted from his position when several misdeeds were uncovered that involved him and other of his party members, not including Merkel.
*Merkel joined Daniela Dahn’s group “Demokratischer Aufbruch”, or the “Democratic Awakening”, after the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989.
*In 1990, she briefly served as the deputy spokeswoman for the government of conservative Lothar de Maiziere, the last prime minister of East Germany before unification.
*After the German unification, Merkel would become elected to the Bundestag at the first post-unification election. (The Bundestag is a part of the German government that is the elected representation of the German people.)
*Merkel’s party merged with the west German Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and she became the Minister for Women and Youth in Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s cabinet.
*In 1994 she was made Minister for the Environment and Nuclear Safety, which was the stepping stone that really gave her a platform in which to get some visibility as a serious political figure.
*Chancellor Helmut Kohl not only appointed Merkel in these important positions, he was also noted as making her his protégé and entrusting her with many responsibilities.
*Eventually, with Kohl’s support, she would be elected as the deputy party leader.
*She eventually would distance herself from Kohl, as he was later ousted from his position when several misdeeds were uncovered that involved him and other of his party members, not including Merkel.