Angela Merkel Fast Facts

(CNN) -- Here's a look at the life of the first female chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel.

Personal
Birth Date: July 17, 1954

Birth Place: Hamburg, Germany

Birth Name: Angela Dorothea Kasner

Father: Horst Kasner, a Lutheran minister

Mother: Herlind Kasner, an English teacher

Marriages: Joachim Sauer (1998-present); Ulrich Merkel (1977-1982, divorced)

Education: University of Leipzig, B.S., 1978; German Academy of Sciences, Ph. D, 1986

Religion: Lutheran

Other Facts
Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl sometimes referred to her as "the girl."

She is a former physicist.

Timeline
1978-1990 - Research associate at Zentralinstitut fur physikalische Chemie in Berlin.

1990 - Becomes Press Officer for Demokratischer Aufbruch (DA or Democratic Awakening).

December 1990 - Is elected to the German Bundestag.

1991 - Is named Minister of Women and Young People by Chancellor Helmut Kohl and becomes Deputy Chairperson of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

1994 - Minister of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

1998 - General Secretary of the CDU.

April 10, 2000 - Becomes the first female chairperson of the CDU.

October 10, 2005 - Strikes a deal with Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats that will make her the first female Chancellor of Germany.

November 22, 2005 - Is sworn in as the first female chancellor of Germany.

January 13 and 16, 2006 - Meets President George W. Bush at the White House and President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.

April 30, 2008 - Receives the Charlemagne Prize, the "Citizens' Prize for Services to European Unity."

June 26, 2009 - Makes first visit to the United States under President Barack Obama's administration.

September 27, 2009 - Is re-elected chancellor of Germany.

February 15, 2011 - Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama

June 17, 2011 - Meets with French President Nicholas Sarkozy to discuss a potential Greek bailout plan.

December 5, 2011 - Meets with Sarkozy to announce their proposed plan to impose fiscal discipline on members of the European Union.

September 22, 2013 - Merkel is re-elected chancellor of Germany.