# Family of Angela Merkel > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Family_of_Angela_Merkel > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Family_of_Angela_Merkel.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_of_Angela_Merkel > Source revision: 1334127163 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Family of the chancellor of Germany Family of Angela Merkel Merkel's paternal grandparents, Ludwik Marian Kaźmierczak and Margarethe Current region Germany Poland Members Angela Merkel, Horst Kasner, Ludwig Kasner Connected members Herlind Kasner, Willi Jentzsch, Marcus Kasner Connected families Kasner Traditions Lutheranism This article is part of a series about Angela Merkel Early career Karl Marx University German Academy of Sciences at Berlin Democratic Awakening 1990 East German election Council of Ministers deputy spokesperson Member of the Bundestag Vorpommern-Rügen – Vorpommern-Greifswald I CDU donations scandal Leader of the Christian Democratic Union Federal Minister for Women and Youth Federal Minister for the Environment Chancellor of Germany Foreign policy International trips First term 2005 German federal election First Merkel cabinet Berlin Declaration Treaty of Lisbon Elterngeld Second term 2009 German federal election Second Merkel cabinet Energiewende Bundeswehr reform German response to the Greek debt crisis Third term 2013 German federal election Third Merkel cabinet NSA surveillance Normandy Format 41st G7 summit National minimum wage Migrant crisis (Willkommenskultur) (Wir schaffen das) Introduction of same-sex marriage Fourth term 2017 German federal election 2017 Jamaica coalition exploratory talks Fourth Merkel cabinet 2018 government crisis Aachen Treaty COVID-19 pandemic protests Related Family Public image (Merkel-Raute) Freedom Awards and honours v t e The family of [Angela Merkel](/source/Angela_Merkel), the former [chancellor of Germany](/source/Chancellor_of_Germany), is of [German](/source/Germans) and [Polish](/source/Polish_people) descent. Merkel was born Angela Dorothea Kasner on 17 July 1954 in [Hamburg](/source/Hamburg). The Kasner name is derived from Jan Kaźmierczak, a Pole from [Poznań](/source/Pozna%C5%84) who lived in the 18th century. Merkel's grandfather changed the name to Kasner in 1930. Merkel has been married twice, and kept the name of her first husband, Ulrich Merkel. Angela Merkel's family was extensively discussed in a 2013 biography.[1] ## Paternal relations ### Horst Kasner Main article: [Horst Kasner](/source/Horst_Kasner) Horst Kasner (né Horst Kaźmierczak; born 6 August 1926 in Berlin, died 2 September 2011 in Templin) was the father of Angela Merkel, and was a Protestant theologian. ### Ludwig Kasner Main article: [Ludwig Kasner](/source/Ludwig_Kasner) Ludwig Kasner (né Ludwik Marian Kaźmierczak; born 1896 in Posen, [Germany](/source/Germany) (now [Poznań](/source/Pozna%C5%84), Poland), died 1959 in [Berlin](/source/Berlin)) was the paternal grandfather of Angela Merkel. He served as a soldier in the Polish [Blue Army](/source/Blue_Army_(Poland)) which took part in Poland's struggle for independence. In the aftermath of the [First World War](/source/First_World_War) he moved to Berlin, the hometown of his fiancée Margarethe, and worked for the Berlin Police. ## Maternal relations ### Herlind Jentzsch Herlind Kasner (née Jentzsch; born on 8 July 1928 in the Free City of Danzig, died 6 April 2019 in [Templin](/source/Templin)) was the mother of Angela Merkel and a teacher of English and Latin. She continued to teach English at an adult education center in Templin into her 80s.[2] ### Willi Jentzsch Main article: [Willi Jentzsch](/source/Willi_Jentzsch) Willi Jentzsch (born 15 May 1886 in [Wolfen](/source/Wolfen%2C_Germany), died 23 May 1936 in the Free City of Danzig) was the maternal grandfather of Angela Merkel. He was a teacher, school administrator and politician in the [Free City of Danzig](/source/Free_City_of_Danzig), and was elected as one of the eleven Senators of the Free City of Danzig on 27 October 1926, but resigned on 1 November 1927 to become rector of the renowned Gymnasium St. Johann in Fleischergasse. In March 1936, he became school director in Danzig, and thus head of all elementary schools in the city-state. ## Ancestry Ancestors of Family of Angela Merkel 16. (Possibly) Józef Wojciechowski 8. (Possibly) Ludwik Wojciechowski 15. (Possibly) Franziska 4. Ludwig Kasner (born “Ludwik Kaźmierczak”) 18. Bartłomiej Kaźmierczak 9. Anna Kaźmierczak 19. Apolonia Bielejewicz 2. Horst Kasner (né Kaźmierczak) 20. Karl Poerschke 10. Karl August Pörschke 21. Christina Stanowski 5. Margarethe Pörschke 11. Maria Wilhelmine Thimm 1. Angela Merkel (née Kasner), Chancellor of Germany 24. Johann Christoph Jentzsch 12. Friedrich Wilhelm Jentzsch 25. Anna Marie Hanke 6. Willi Jentzsch, Senator in the Free City of Danzig 26. Friedrich Carl Wilde 13. Wilhelmine Pauline Minna Wilde 27. Caroline Wilhelmine Ehrenberg 3. Herlind Jentzsch 28. Carl Gottfried Drange 14. Emil Drange, City Clerk of Elbing 29. Emilie Juliane Günther 7. Gertrud Alma Drange 30. Christoph Wachs 15. Emma Pauline Wilhelmine Wachs ## Siblings ### Marcus Kasner Marcus Kasner (born 7 July 1957) is the only brother of Angela Merkel and is a [theoretical physicist](/source/Theoretical_physics). His early career paralleled that of his sister Angela; like her he studied physics, earned a doctoral degree in physics (Dr.rer.nat.) and worked as a researcher at the [German Academy of Sciences at Berlin](/source/German_Academy_of_Sciences_at_Berlin). He earned his [Habilitation](/source/Habilitation) with the dissertation *Electronic correlation in the quantum Hall regime* at the [Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg](/source/Otto_von_Guericke_University_Magdeburg) in 2002.[3] He has published papers in journals such as *[Physical Review Letters](/source/Physical_Review_Letters)*, *[Physical Review](/source/Physical_Review)* and *[Physica](/source/Physica_(journal))*. Kasner currently teaches at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the [Goethe University Frankfurt](/source/Goethe_University_Frankfurt) and lives in [Darmstadt](/source/Darmstadt).[4] During the [Fall of Communism](/source/Fall_of_Communism), Marcus Kasner was involved in the opposition movement in [East Germany](/source/East_Germany) in the same small circle as his sister as she started her political career. He was a friend of [Günter Nooke](/source/G%C3%BCnter_Nooke), the founder of [Democratic Awakening](/source/Democratic_Awakening), and took part in political discussions on the future of the state.[5] After the [German reunification](/source/German_reunification), he was a member of [Alliance 90/The Greens](/source/Alliance_90%2FThe_Greens).[6] ### Irene Kasner Irene Kasner (born 19 August 1964) is the only sister of Angela Merkel and is an [occupational therapist](/source/Occupational_therapy). ## Spouses ### Ulrich Merkel Ulrich Merkel (born in 1953) was the first husband of Angela Merkel. He met Angela Kasner in 1974 when they were both physics students, and they married in 1977. The marriage ended in divorce in 1982. Angela Merkel kept her first husband's last name.[7] ### Joachim Sauer Main article: [Joachim Sauer](/source/Joachim_Sauer) Joachim Sauer (born 19 April 1949) is the second husband of Angela Merkel. He is a [quantum chemist](/source/Quantum_chemistry) and full professor at the [Humboldt University of Berlin](/source/Humboldt_University_of_Berlin). He married Angela Merkel on 30 December 1998. ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Kornelius, Stefan (2013). *Angela Merkel: Die Kanzlerin und ihre Welt*. Hoffmann und Campe. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3455502916](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3455502916). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Angela Merkel's mother, Herlind Kasner, dies aged 90"](https://www.dw.com/en/angela-merkels-mother-herlind-kasner-dies-aged-90/a-48281346). *Deutsche Welle*. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-encyclopedia_3-0)** Bartz, Bettina, ed. (2003). "Kasner, Marcus". *[Kürschners Deutscher Gelehrten-Kalender](/source/K%C3%BCrschners_Deutscher_Gelehrten-Kalender)*. Vol. 2 (19 ed.). K.G. Saur. p. 1554. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Marcus Kasner"](http://th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de/~kasner/). Goethe University Frankfurt. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Die Schläferin"](http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-67682698.html). *Der Spiegel*. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Bei Merkels unterm Sofa"](http://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/deutschland-bei-merkels-unterm-sofa_aid_200325.html). *Focus*. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Biographie: Angela Merkel, geb. 1954"](http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/biografien/MerkelAngela/index.html). *DHM*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20090225210100/http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/biografien/MerkelAngela/index.html) from the original on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 2 March 2010. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Family of Angela Merkel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_of_Angela_Merkel) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_of_Angela_Merkel?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). 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