Leader of the Christian Democratic Union

The leader of the Christian Democratic Union (Vorsitzender der Christlich Demokratischen Union) is the most senior political figure within the Christian Democratic Union of Germany. Since 31 January 2022, the office has been held by Friedrich Merz, who succeeded Armin Laschet.^[1]

Leader of the Christian Democratic Union
Vorsitzender der Christlich Demokratischen Union
Incumbent Friedrich Merz since 31 January 2022
Type	1029
Member of	Federal Executive Presidium
Seat	Konrad-Adenauer-Haus
Formation	1 March 1946
First holder	Konrad Adenauer
Website	https://www.cdu.de/ueber-uns/struktur-der-cdu

The Leader of the Christian Democratic Union Party is supported by a General Secretary who, since 12 July 2023, has been Carsten Linnemann.

Leaders of the Christian Democratic Union (1946–present)

A list of leaders since 1946:^[2]

Portrait		Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			State	Chancellor
			Took office	Left office	Days
1		Konrad Adenauer (1876–1967)	1 March 1946	23 March 1966	20 years, 22 days	North Rhine-Westphalia	Himself Ludwig Erhard
2		Ludwig Erhard (1897–1977) [a]	23 March 1966	23 May 1967	1 year, 61 days	Baden-Württemberg	Himself Kurt Georg Kiesinger
3		Kurt Georg Kiesinger (1904–1988)	23 May 1967	5 October 1971	4 years, 135 days	Baden-Württemberg	Himself Willy Brandt
4		Rainer Barzel (1924–2006)	5 October 1971	12 June 1973	1 year, 250 days	North Rhine-Westphalia	Willy Brandt
5		Helmut Kohl (1930–2017)	12 June 1973	7 November 1998	25 years, 148 days	Rhineland-Palatinate	Willy Brandt Helmut Schmidt Himself
6		Wolfgang Schäuble (1942–2023)	7 November 1998	16 February 2000	1 year, 101 days	Baden-Württemberg	Gerhard Schröder
7		Angela Merkel (born 1954)	10 April 2000	7 December 2018	18 years, 241 days	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	Gerhard Schröder Herself
8		Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (born 1962)	7 December 2018	22 January 2021	2 years, 46 days	Saarland	Angela Merkel
9		Armin Laschet (born 1961)	22 January 2021	31 January 2022	1 year, 9 days	North Rhine-Westphalia	Angela Merkel Olaf Scholz
10		Friedrich Merz (born 1955)	31 January 2022	Incumbent	3 years, 180 days	North Rhine-Westphalia	Olaf Scholz Himself

Timeline

See also

• Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)
• Christian Social Union of Germany (CSU)
• Alliance '90/The Greens

Notes

1. There is uncertainty over the question whether Erhard was ever actually a member of the CDU. Reports at the time suggested that he joined the party when he became chairman, although his membership was backdated by three years. However, reports in 2007 suggested that Erhard never actually joined the CDU. The Konrad Adenauer Foundation, which holds the party archives, reported that the question could "not be answered conclusively."^[3]