He was named as the Union's candidate for chancellor of Germany ahead of the 2025 election. With the CDU winning the most seats in the 2025 German federal election, Merz is now in line to become ...

Merz was born in 1955 into a conservative, Catholic family in the North Rhine-Westphalia town of Brilon, in central Germany, and joined the CDU’s youth wing while still in school.

BERLIN (AP) — Conservative leader Friedrich Merz was elected in a second ballot by lawmakers as post-World War II Germany's 10th chancellor on Tuesday — hours after he failed to win the first ...

Friedrich Merz, designated Federal Chancellor (CDU), is pictured during the signing of the coalition agreement between the SPD, CDU, and CSU on May 05, 2025 in Berlin, Germany.

Friedrich Merz after failing to be elected as chancellor at the Bundestag, Berlin, May 6, 2025. AP/Markus Schreiber Finally in power, Mr. Merz faces a fork in the road when it comes to dealing with ...

Friedrich Merz, chancellor candidate of Germany’s Christian Democrats, arrives at a news conference the day after German parliamentary elections on Feb. 24 in Berlin.

Friedrich Merz, chairman of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), is set to become Germany's next chancellor based on the projections of Germany's general election, held on February 23.

Merz needed at least 316 votes to become chancellor and only 310 members of parliament voted in his favor. Germany's Bundestag has a total of 630 members.

Friedrich Merz, a former banker who has never been a government minister, appears almost certain to be the next chancellor of Germany after his conservative CDU/CSU alliance won the most votes in ...

Merz was born in 1955 into a conservative, Catholic family in the North Rhine-Westphalia town of Brilon, in central Germany, and joined the CDU’s youth wing while still in school.