Photo Gallery Merkel Through the Years
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is poised for victory in Sunday's election. She has fascinated the world's media because of both her gender and the fact that she is from the former East Germany. In this photograph from 1971, the then Angela Kasner is pictured (second row, center) with her school class in Templin, a small town near Berlin.
The daughter of a Lutheran pastor and teacher, Merkel grew up in a rural area. This picture from July 1973 shows her during a camping trip with friends.
Merkel pictured with former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (right) and former Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer in December 2003. In the 2005 election, Merkel narrowly defeated Schröder, winning by just three seats.
Merkel shaking hands with the late Pope John Paul II in May 2003 after she became party leader of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Merkel hiking with her husband, Joachim Sauer, in April 2006 on the Italian island of Ischia. Merkel married the quantum chemist in 1998 but kept the name of her previous and first husband, Ulrich Merkel, to whom she was married from 1977 until 1982.
Merkel and former Chancellor Helmut Kohl. In 1990, she joined the CDU and, soon after, was appointed to Kohl's cabinet as Minister for Women and Youth. Fellow politicians sometimes referred to her as Kohl's "little girl."
Merkel speaking at a party convention of the Women's Union -- the CDU section specifically for women -- in August of this year. Merkel has become a role model for many women at home and abroad.
Merkel speaking to US President Barack Obama ahead of a G-8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, in July of this year. Despite somewhat strained relations between Germany and the US during the Bush era, the two leaders have held constructive talks about issues ranging from climate change to Afghanistan, and Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough has said that Obama has "a lot of respect" for Merkel.
Merkel with German Family Minister Ursula von der Leyen in September of this year. Von der Leyen has implemented the government's family policy, including increasing parental leave for both parents.
Merkel with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at a press conference in Berlin in September, where they presented the conclusions they reached in their talks prior to the G-20 summit.
Merkel with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi posing for a "family photo" at the G-8 summit in Italy in July 2009. Her ability to take on the big boys has won her the admiration of women from across the political spectrum.
