HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The family of
Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...
, the former Chancellor of Germany, is of German and Polish descent. Merkel was born Angela Dorothea Kasner on 17 July 1954 in
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
. The Kasner name is derived from Jan Kaźmierczak, a Pole from
Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...
who lived in the 18th century. Merkel's grandfather changed the name to Kasner in 1930. Merkel has been married twice, and kept the name of her first husband, Ulrich Merkel. Angela Merkel's family was extensively discussed in a 2013 biography.


Paternal relations


Horst Kasner

Horst Kasner (né Horst Kaźmierczak; born 6 August 1926 in Berlin, died 2 September 2011 in Templin) was the father of Angela Merkel, and was a Protestant theologian.


Ludwig Kasner

Ludwig Kasner (né Ludwik Marian Kaźmierczak; born 1896 in Posen,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
(now
Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...
, Poland), died 1959 in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
) was the paternal grandfather of Angela Merkel. He served as a soldier in the Polish Blue Army which took part in Poland's struggle for independence. In the aftermath of the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
he moved to Berlin, the hometown of his fiancée Margarethe, and worked for the Berlin Police.


Maternal relations


Herlind Kasner

Herlind Kasner (née Jentzsch; born on 8 July 1928 in the Free City of Danzig, died 6 April 2019 in
Templin Templin () is a small town in the Uckermark district of Brandenburg, Germany. Though it has a population of only 17,127 (2006), in terms of area it is, with 377.01 km2 (145.56 sq mi), the second largest town in Brandenburg (after Wittstock) and ...
) was the mother of Angela Merkel and a teacher of English and Latin. She continued to teach English at an adult education center in Templin into her 80s.


Willi Jentzsch

Willi Jentzsch (born 15 May 1886 in
Bitterfeld-Wolfen Bitterfeld-Wolfen () is a town in the district Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated in south-eastern Saxony-Anhalt, west of the river Mulde, in an area that is dominated by heavy industry and lignite mining. The town was forme ...
, died 23 May 1936 in the Free City of Danzig) was the maternal grandfather of Angela Merkel. He was a teacher, school administrator and politician in the Free City of Danzig, and was elected as one of the eleven Senators of the Free City of Danzig on 27 October 1926, but resigned on 1 November 1927 to become rector of the renowned Gymnasium St. Johann in Fleischergasse. In March 1936, he became school director in Danzig, and thus head of all elementary schools in the city-state.


Ancestry


Siblings


Marcus Kasner

Marcus Kasner (born 7 July 1957 in Perleberg) is the only brother of Angela Merkel and is a
theoretical physicist Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experime ...
. His early career paralleled that of his sister Angela; like her he studied physics, earned a doctoral degree in physics (Dr.rer.nat.) and worked as a researcher at the
German Academy of Sciences at Berlin The German Academy of Sciences at Berlin, german: Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin (DAW), in 1972 renamed the Academy of Sciences of the GDR (''Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR (AdW)''), was the most eminent research institution ...
. He earned his Habilitation with the dissertation ''Electronic correlation in the quantum Hall regime'' at the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg in 2002. He has published papers in journals such as ''
Physical Review Letters ''Physical Review Letters'' (''PRL''), established in 1958, is a peer-reviewed, scientific journal that is published 52 times per year by the American Physical Society. As also confirmed by various measurement standards, which include the ''Journa ...
'', '' Physical Review'' and '' Physica''. Kasner currently teaches at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the Goethe University Frankfurt and lives in Darmstadt. During the
Fall of Communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...
, Marcus Kasner was involved in the opposition movement in
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
in the same small circle as his sister as she started her political career. He was a friend of Günter Nooke, the founder of Democratic Awakening, and took part in political discussions on the future of the state. After the German reunification, he was a member of Alliance 90/The Greens.


Irene Kasner

Irene Kasner (born 19 August 1963) is the only sister of Angela Merkel and is an
occupational therapist Occupational therapists (OTs) are health care professionals specializing in occupational therapy and occupational science. OTs and occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) use scientific bases and a holistic perspective to promote a person's abi ...
.


Spouses


Ulrich Merkel

Ulrich Merkel was the first husband of Angela Merkel. He met Angela Kasner in 1974 when they were both physics students, and they married in 1977. The marriage ended in divorce in 1982. Angela Merkel kept her first husband's last name.


Joachim Sauer

Joachim Sauer (born 19 April 1949) is the second husband of Angela Merkel. He is a quantum chemist and full professor at the
Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...
. He married Angela Merkel on 30 December 1998.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merkel, Angela German families Family by person