Editing Angela Merkel (section)

==Background and early life==
[[File:Ludwik Marian Kaźmierczak in the uniform of Haller's Army with fiancée Margarethe.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Merkel's paternal grandparents when engaged: Margarethe and her betrothed, Ludwik Marian Kaźmierczak, in his Polish [[Blue Army (Poland)|Blue Army]] uniform]]{{See also|Family of Angela Merkel}}
Merkel was born Angela Dorothea Kasner in 1954, in [[Hamburg]], [[West Germany]], the daughter of [[Horst Kasner]] (1926–2011; ''né'' {{Lang|pl|Kaźmierczak|italic=no}}),<ref>{{cite book|last=Langguth|first=Gerd|author-link=Gerd Langguth|title=Angela Merkel|date=August 2005|language=de|isbn=3-423-24485-2|page=10|publisher=Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=13 March 2013 |title=Kanzlerin Merkel hat polnische Wurzeln |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/familiegeschichte-der-kanzlerin-merkel-hat-polnische-wurzeln-1.1623363 |access-date=20 June 2023 |website=Süddeutsche.de |language=de |archive-date=9 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109144341/http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/familiegeschichte-der-kanzlerin-merkel-hat-polnische-wurzeln-1.1623363 |url-status=live }}</ref> a [[Lutheran]] pastor and a native of Berlin, and his wife Herlind (1928–2019; née Jentzsch), born in [[Free City of Danzig|Danzig]] (now [[Gdańsk]], [[Poland]]), a teacher of English and [[Latin]]. She has two younger siblings, [[Marcus Kasner]], a physicist, and Irene Kasner, an occupational therapist. In her childhood and youth, Merkel was known among her peers by the nickname "Kasi", derived from her last name Kasner.<ref>{{cite book |last=Qvortrup |first=Matthew |year= 2016 |title= Angela Merkel: Europe's Most Influential Leader |publisher= The Overlook Press |isbn= 978-1-4683-1408-3 |chapter=In the Shadow of the Berlin Wall}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=June 2023}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 August 2021 |title=Merkel, power player who changed Germany |url=https://thewest.com.au/politics/merkel-power-player-who-changed-germany-c-3790345 |access-date=21 June 2023 |website=The West Australian |archive-date=21 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621114733/https://thewest.com.au/politics/merkel-power-player-who-changed-germany-c-3790345 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Merkel is of German and Polish descent. Her paternal grandfather, [[Ludwik Kaźmierczak|Ludwik Kasner]], was a German policeman of Polish ethnicity. After being [[Prisoner of war|captured]] in France during [[World War I]], he joined the [[Blue Army (Poland)|Blue Army]] and likely fought against Germany.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blogs.bbk.ac.uk/research/2014/06/18/picturing-the-family-media-narrative-memory/|title=Picturing the Family: Media, Narrative, Memory {{pipe}} Research|date=18 June 2014 |access-date=11 February 2017|archive-date=1 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501082559/http://blogs.bbk.ac.uk/research/2014/06/18/picturing-the-family-media-narrative-memory/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Schuller |first1=Konrad |last2=Warschau |date=22 March 2013 |title=Merkels polnische Wurzeln: Großvaters Krieg |language=de |work=FAZ.NET |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/merkels-polnische-wurzeln-grossvaters-krieg-12124653.html |access-date=7 August 2023 |issn=0174-4909 |archive-date=19 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119001700/https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/merkels-polnische-wurzeln-grossvaters-krieg-12124653.html |url-status=live}}</ref> He married Merkel's grandmother Margarethe, a German from Berlin, and relocated to her hometown where he again worked in the police. In 1930, they Germanised the Polish name Kaźmierczak to Kasner.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kornelius|first=Stefan|author-link=Stefan Kornelius|title= Angela Merkel: Die Kanzlerin und ihre Welt|date=March 2013|publisher=Hoffmann und Campe|language=de|isbn=978-3-455-50291-6|page=7}}</ref><ref name="Kornelius-2013">{{cite news|first=Stefan|last=Kornelius |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/german-elections-blog-2013/2013/sep/10/angela-merkel-origins-germany-election |title=Six things you didn't know about Angela Merkel |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=10 September 2013 |access-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130910133147/http://www.theguardian.com/world/german-elections-blog-2013/2013/sep/10/angela-merkel-origins-germany-election |archive-date=10 September 2013 |url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.dw.de/the-german-chancellors-polish-roots/a-16698783|title=The German chancellor's Polish roots|publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130503221041/http://www.dw.de/the-german-chancellors-polish-roots/a-16698783|archive-date=3 May 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]] |date=13 March 2013 |archive-date=6 September 2013 |url-status = live|url=http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/familiegeschichte-der-kanzlerin-merkel-hat-polnische-wurzeln-1.1623363 |title=Merkel hat polnische Wurzeln |trans-title=Merkel has Polish roots |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906161618/http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/familiegeschichte-der-kanzlerin-merkel-hat-polnische-wurzeln-1.1623363  }}</ref> Merkel's maternal grandparents were the [[Danzig]] politician [[Willi Jentzsch]] and Gertrud Alma (née Drange), a daughter of the [[Clerk (municipal official)|city clerk]] of [[Elbing]] (now [[Elbląg]], Poland) Emil Drange. Since the mid-1990s, Merkel has publicly mentioned her Polish heritage on several occasions and described herself as a quarter Polish, but her Polish roots became better known as a result of a 2013 biography.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article114407379/Kanzlerin-Angela-Merkel-ist-zu-einem-Viertel-Polin.html|title=Ahnenforschung: Kanzlerin Angela Merkel ist zu einem Viertel Polin|newspaper=Die Welt|language=de|date=13 March 2013|last1=Krauel|first1=Torsten|access-date=18 November 2016|archive-date=10 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180910211006/https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article114407379/Kanzlerin-Angela-Merkel-ist-zu-einem-Viertel-Polin.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Religion played a key role in the Kasner family's migration from West Germany to East Germany.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Boyes|first=Roger|date=25 July 2005|title=Angela Merkel: Forged in the Old Communist East, Germany's Chancellor-in-Waiting Is Not like the Others|url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-135063118/angela-merkel-forged-in-the-old-communist-east-germany-s|journal=New Statesman|access-date=28 April 2017|archive-date=28 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428142525/https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-135063118/angela-merkel-forged-in-the-old-communist-east-germany-s|url-status=live}}</ref> Merkel's paternal grandfather was originally Catholic but the entire family converted to Lutheranism during the childhood of her father,<ref name="Kornelius-2013"/> who later studied Lutheran theology in [[Heidelberg University|Heidelberg]] and Hamburg. In 1954, when Angela was just three months old, her father received a pastorate at the church in {{Interlanguage link|Quitzow (Perleberg)|de|lt=Quitzow|vertical-align=sup}} (a district of [[Perleberg]] in Brandenburg), which was then in [[East Germany]].<ref name="Werner-2005" /> The family moved to [[Templin]] and Merkel grew up in the countryside {{convert|90|km|mi|abbr=on}} north of [[East Berlin]].<ref name="Werner-2005">{{Cite journal|last=Werner|first=Reutter|date=1 December 2005|title=Who's Afraid of Angela Merkel?: The Life, Political Career, and Future of the New German Chancellor|url=https://www.questia.com/read/1P3-1042718031/who-s-afraid-of-angela-merkel-the-life-political|journal=International Journal|volume=61|access-date=28 April 2017|archive-date=28 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428144045/https://www.questia.com/read/1P3-1042718031/who-s-afraid-of-angela-merkel-the-life-political|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1968, Merkel joined the [[Free German Youth]] (FDJ), the official [[communist]] youth movement sponsored by the ruling Marxist–Leninist [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/10278014/Angela-Merkel-the-girl-who-never-wanted-to-stand-out-to-win-big-again.html|title=Angela Merkel, the girl who never wanted to stand out, to win big again|last=Vasagar|first=Jeevan|date=1 September 2013|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=19 April 2017|language=en|archive-date=19 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419115550/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/10278014/Angela-Merkel-the-girl-who-never-wanted-to-stand-out-to-win-big-again.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/angela-merkels-unlikely-journey-from-communist-east-germany-to-the-chancellorship-a6738271.html|title=Angela Merkel's journey from Communist East Germany to Chancellor|last=Patterson|first=Tony|date=17 November 2015|work=The Independent|access-date=19 April 2017|language=en-GB|archive-date=19 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419104415/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/angela-merkels-unlikely-journey-from-communist-east-germany-to-the-chancellorship-a6738271.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Membership was nominally voluntary, but those who did not join found it difficult to gain admission to higher education.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/647091179 |title=The Study of international relations : the state of the art |date=1989 |publisher=Macmillan, in association with Millennium, journal of international studies |isbn=978-1-349-20275-1 |location=Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire |pages=328 |oclc=647091179}}</ref> She did not participate in the secular [[coming of age|coming-of-age]] ceremony [[Jugendweihe]], however, which was common in East Germany. Instead, she was [[Confirmation (sacrament)#Lutheran view|confirmed]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/2017/07/learning-machine-angela-merkel|title=The learning machine: Angela Merkel|work=New Statesman|date=8 July 2017|first=Kristina|last=Spohr|access-date=11 January 2018|archive-date=12 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180112043002/https://www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/2017/07/learning-machine-angela-merkel|url-status=live}}</ref> During this time, she participated in several compulsory courses on [[Marxism–Leninism]], with her grades only being regarded as "sufficient".<ref>{{cite web|title=5 Things to Know About Germany's Angela Merkel|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/09/17/world/europe/ap-eu-germany-merkel-five-things.html|year=2017|agency=Associated Press|access-date=21 June 2023|archive-date=3 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003225312/https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/09/17/world/europe/ap-eu-germany-merkel-five-things.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Merkel later said that "Life in the GDR was sometimes almost comfortable in a certain way, because there were some things one simply couldn't influence."<ref>{{cite news |title=Life in Communist East Germany was 'almost comfortable' at times, Merkel says |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-berlinwall-merkel/life-in-communist-east-germany-was-almost-comfortable-at-times-merkel-says-idUSKBN1XI287 |work=Reuters |date=8 November 2019 |access-date=14 November 2019 |archive-date=11 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191111153300/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-berlinwall-merkel/life-in-communist-east-germany-was-almost-comfortable-at-times-merkel-says-idUSKBN1XI287 |url-status=live }}</ref> Merkel learned to speak Russian fluently at school, and she was awarded prizes for her proficiency in Russian and mathematics, being at the top of her class in these subjects. She completed her school education with the best possible average [[Abitur]] grade of 1.0.<ref>{{cite book|title=Angela Merkel|last=Langguth|first=Gerd|date=August 2005|publisher=DTV|isbn=3-423-24485-2|page=50|language=de|author-link=Gerd Langguth}}</ref>