Three candidates for Merkel's succession and a key figure

The most surprising candidate who has so far given Merkel the opportunity to succeed is Friedrich Merz (62), who has not held any political office since 2009. He is still popular with the economically liberal and socially conservative wings of the party. With Merkel, he collides violently in 2002 when he loses his position as president of the group. On Tuesday, he said Merkel deserved respect. Merz is a lawyer and chairman of the supervisory board of the German branch of the large asset manager BlackRock

although the Chancellor does not express preference for those who must succeed, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (56). Merkel's favorite. The question is whether it works in his favor. She earned the title of Prime Minister in the small state of Saarland, where she helped the CDU win a surprisingly important victory in the 2017 elections. Socio-economically, it is center-left and culturally conservative. This year, she turned Merkel's offer as a minister. she wanted to become general secretary of the CDU. In this role, she created a strong network within the party.

In the CDU, Jens Spahn (38) has repeatedly acted against Angela Merkel. In criticizing his refugee policy, he loved the party's conservative wing. But he is certainly not a model of the old CDU as an open homosexual and gay married last year. Spahn likes to find the debate with provocative statements. Under the previous government, he was Secretary of State for Finance and he is now Minister of Health. In this role, he has strengthened his social profile. Spahn is an admirer and friend of Austrian Chancellor Kurz .

Armin Laschet (57), Prime Minister of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, is a key figure in the battle for succession. He does not want to say he's a candidate for Merkel's estate. But since one third of the members authorized to vote on the succession to the CDU congress come from his federal state, this may be of decisive importance for Laschet to express his support. Unlike many party members, he stayed behind Merkel and his refugee policy after 2015 – and also won the general election in 2017.