The First Merkel cabinet ( German: ''Kabinett Merkel I'') was the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

of the Federal Republic of Germany from 22 November 2005 to 27 October 2009 throughout the 16th legislative session of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

. Led by Christian Democrat Angela Merkel, the first female

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

in German history, the cabinet was supported by a

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political party, political parties of opposing political spectrum, political ideologies unite in a coalition government. Causes of a grand coali ...

between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU),

Christian Social Union of Bavaria The Christian Social Union in Bavaria (German language, German: , CSU) is a Christian democracy, Christian democratic and Conservatism in Germany, conservative List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. Having a regionali ...

(CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD). It was installed following the 2005 federal election and succeeded the second Schröder cabinet. It ceased to function after the formation of second Merkel cabinet, which was installed after the 2009 federal elections and sworn in on 28 October 2009.

Composition

The federal cabinet consisted of the following ministers:

Formation of the grand coalition

Neither the coalitions of the CDU/CSU and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) nor the ruling SPD and Alliance '90/The Greens had the vote of a majority of members of the ''Bundestag'' following the 2005 federal election, so the CDU/CSU and SPD decided to form the second

in the history of the federal republic. Both CDU/CSU and SPD achieved a similar percentage of votes at the election (35.2% and 34.2%, respectively), so they decided that each would receive eight cabinet seats (with six for the CDU and two for the CSU). On 13 October the SPD announced their future ministers and on 17 October the CDU/CSU announced theirs. Edmund Stoiber of the CSU was to become the Federal Minister of Economics and Technology, but refused the post on 1 November after a conflict with Angela Merkel over the abilities of the minister to succeed him, and chose to continue his state-level role in Bavaria. The coalition agreement (''Koalitionsvertrag''), titled ''Together for Germany. With courage and humanity'', was signed and accepted by the congress of the CDU, CSU, and SPD on 12, 13, and 14 November. Angela Merkel was elected

Chancellor of Germany The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the head of the federal Cabinet of Germany, government of Germany. The chancellor is the chief executive of the Federal Government of Germany, ...

on 22 November 2005 by 397 votes to 202. From that date the cabinet was officially in power.

References

External links

Official English names of German ministers and ministries (German Foreign Office)
* , the agreement of the coalition of 12 November 2005 between the CDU, CSU and SPD. * , from the SPD official website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cabinet Merkel I Merkel I 2005 establishments in Germany 2009 disestablishments in Germany Cabinets established in 2005 Cabinets disestablished in 2009 Angela Merkel Grand coalition governments

Composition

Formation of the grand coalition

See also

References

External links