The First Merkel cabinet (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''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 Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

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 Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

, 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 The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD). It was installed following the 2005 federal election and succeeded the

second Schröder cabinet The Second Schröder cabinet ( German: ''Kabinett Schröder II'') was the 19th 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 ass ...

. 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 Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

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