Profile Text
Birth Name: Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz
Place of Birth: Brilon, West Germany (now Germany)
Date of Birth: 11 November, 1955
Ethnicity: German, as well as 1/32 French, remote Italian
Friedrich Merz is a German politician. He has been Chancellor of Germany , since 6 May, 2025, and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union, since 31 January, 2022. He has also been a Member of the European Parliament for North Rhine-Westphalia, from 22 July, 1989 to 19 July, 1994; Leader of the CDU/CSU in the Bundestag, from 29 February, 2000 to 22 September, 2002, and again, from 15 February, 2022 to 5 May, 2025; and Leader of the Opposition, from 29 February, 2000 to 22 September, 2002, and again, from 15 February, 2022 to 6 May, 2025.
Friedrich is the son of Paula (Sauvigny) and Joachim Merz, a judge. His father was born in Wriezen, Brandenburg. His mother was born in Brilon, North Rhine-Westphalia. Friedrich is married to judge Charlotte Gass, with whom he has three children.
Friedrich’s paternal grandfather was Ernst Merz. Ernst was a music teacher from Schartowsthal, Brandenburg, now Czartow, Lubusz Voivodeship. After Ernst, who was a Lieutenant in reserve, was called into the Army, the family moved to Breslau in 1938; before eventually settling in Westerstede after their expulsion in 1945.
Friedrich’s maternal grandfather was Josef Paul Sauvigny (the son of Karl Andreas Peter Sauvigny and Ferdinandine Wilhelmine Pauline Köster). Josef was mayor of Brilon, from 1917 to 1937. Karl was from Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, and was the son of Johann Joseph Sauvigny and Caroline Antonette Lisette Ulrich. Johann’s father, Johann Franz Sauvigny, was French. Johann’s mother, Josepha Wilhelmina Magdalena Borlatti, was of part Italian descent; her ancestors came to North Rhine-Westphalia in the mid-eighteenth century. Friedrich’s great-grandmother Ferdinandine was from Brilon, North Rhine-Westphalia.
Friedrich’s maternal grandmother was named Theodora Klauk. Theodora was from Bad Sobernheim, Rhineland-Palatinate.
Source: Genealogy of Friedrich Merz – https://gw.geneanet.org