Draft:Charlotte Merz
Charlotte Merz | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1961 |
| Occupation | Judge |
| Spouse | Friedrich Merz |
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Charlotte Merz, neé Gass (born 1961 near Saarbrücken), is a German judge, and the director of the Amtsgericht (district court) in Arnsberg. She is the wife of Friedrich Merz, the Chancellor of Germany.
Life
[edit]Early life and education
[edit]Merz was born Charlotte Gass[1] in 1961 in Saarbrücken, Germany, where she grew up.[2] She is the oldest of five siblings and comes from a family of lawyers; her father and grandfather were already lawyers and her aunt was a judge.[3] After Abiturs, she followed family tradition by beginning her legal training in Bonn.[4]
Career
[edit]Since 1994, Merz has worked as a judge in Amtsgericht Arnsberg, the district court of Arnsberg. Her speciality is family law.[5] She was made the director of the court in 2025.[6][7][8] In 2005, she founded the Friedrich und Charlotte Merz Stiftung für Bildung und Ausbildung (English: Friedrich and Charlotte Merz Foundation for Education and Vocational Training) with her husband.[9][10]
Husband's Chancellorship
[edit]In 2024 she became part of a scandal when she stopped comedian Lutz van der Horst from doing an interview with her husband for Heute-show on ZDF. The situation caused a stir and Hendrik Zörner, a spokesperson for the Deutscher Journalisten-Verbandes (German Journalists Association) said that the fact that Ms Merz wanted to educate journalists on etiquette was outrageous.[11][12][13] Der Spiegel speculated that her increased appearance was a political tactic to win women's votes for her husband.[14]
In an interview Merz gave in 2025, she states that she wanted to remain in her job even if her husband became Chancellor.[15] Additionally, she said that she found references to her husband in court annoying, but is able to deal with them.[14]
Personal life
[edit]In 1980 she met Friedrich Merz at a graduation party in Bonn, and they married in June 1981.[16] The pair have three children; a son and two daughters.[11][17] and live in Arnsberg-Niedereimer.[18] Merz is close friends with Franca Lehfeldt, because of which Merz and her husband were invited to Lehfeldt's wedding to Christian Lindner.[14]
Charlotte Merz is a Protestant and member of the Church synodal executive of the Soest-Arnsberg Church district.[19] Like her husband, she is a member of the CDU.[20]
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ Von Stefenelli (2025): "Name: Charlotte Merz, geborene Gass"
- ^ Von Stefenelli (2025): "Charlotte Merz wurde 1961 im Saarland geboren und verbrachte dort ihre Kindheit"
- ^ Von Stefenelli (2025): "Als ältestes von fünf Geschwistern wuchs sie in einer Juristenfamilie auf; sowohl ihr Vater als auch ihr Großvater waren Anwälte, ihre Tante Richterin."
- ^ Von Stefenelli (2025): "Nach dem Abitur entschied sie sich, der Familientradition zu folgen, und begann ein Jurastudium in Bonn."
- ^ Von Stefenelli (2025): "In ihrer Funktion als Richterin befasst sie sich hauptsächlich mit familienrechtlichen Angelegenheiten."
- ^ "Impressum". Arnsberg District Court. Archived from the original on 6 May 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
- ^ "Charlotte Merz: "Habe vor, mein Leben wie gewohnt weiterzuführen"" [Charlotte Merz: "I intend to continue living my life as usual"]. T-online (in German). 26 February 2025. Archived from the original on 6 May 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
- ^ Von Stefenelli (2025): "Charlotte Merz ist Juristin und bekleidet die Position der Direktorin des Amtsgerichts Arnsberg."
- ^ "Die Idee" (in German). Merz Stiftung. Retrieved 8 March 2025.
- ^ Von Stefenelli (2025): "Gemeinsam gründete das Paar die 'Friedrich und Charlotte Merz-Stiftung für Bildung und Ausbildung'."
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Auster, Oliver (2024-05-13). "DJV mit Kritik: „Dass Frau Merz Journalisten Benimmregeln beibringt, ist eine Unverschämtheit"". Kölner Stadtanzeiger (in German). Retrieved 2025-03-08.
- ^ Von Stefenelli (2025): " 'Dass Frau Merz den Journalisten Benimmregeln beibringen will, ist eine Unverschämtheit', sagte DJV-Sprecher Hendrik Zörner dem 'KSTA'."
- ^ a b c "Wer ist Charlotte Merz?". spiegel.de. 2024-05-13. Retrieved 2025-03-08.
- ^ ""Habe vor, mein Leben wie gewohnt weiterzuführen": Charlotte Merz über ihre Zukunft". t-online.de (in German). 2025-02-26. Retrieved 2025-03-08.
- ^ Von Stefenelli (2025): In Bonn lernte sie 1980 auf einer Examensparty Friedrich Merz kennen. [...] Ein Jahr später, 1981, heirateten sie."
- ^ Von Stefenelli (2025): "Das Paar bekam insgesamt drei Kinder: einen Sohn und zwei Töchter".
- ^ "Mit „Kanzler-Boulevard": Wie sich Niedereimer auf Friedrich Merz vorbereitet". wp.de. 2025-03-25. Retrieved 2025-03-09.
- ^ "Kreissynodalvorstand". Evangelischer Kirchenkreis Soest-Arnsberg. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
- ^ "Ehefrau des CDU-Chefs: Wer ist Charlotte Merz?". Der Spiegel. 2024-05-13. Retrieved 2025-03-07.
Sources
[edit]- Von Stefenelli, Anna (3 March 2025). "Charlotte Merz im Porträt: Ehe mit Friedrich Merz, "heute-show"-Vorfall, Beruf" [Charlotte Merz in portrait: marriage with Friedrich Merz, "heute-show"-scandal, profession]. Watson (in German). Archived from the original on 6 May 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.