Born in Hamburg, Merkel was raised in East Germany. She entered politics during the collapse of communism in 1989 and served in East Germany’s government in 1990 before being elected to the federal parliament on reunification as a Christian Democrat. She was a minister under Helmut Kohl (1991–98) and became parliamentary leader of the Christian Democrats in 2002. Following the close elections of 2005, she became Chancellor in a “grand coalition” with the Social Democrats—the first woman and the first former East German to hold this post. She remained in office following further electoral victories in 2009, 2013, and 2017. As Chancellor she played a central role in setting EU policy and in dealing with the international fallout from the financial crisis of 2017-08. In 2018 she announced that she would step down as leader of the Christian Democrats from the end of that year and as Chancellor in 2021.