Editing Angela Merkel (section)

===1989–1990: German reunification===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-0803-017, Lothar de Maiziere und Angela Merkel.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|[[Lothar de Maizière]] and Merkel, 1990]]
The [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] in November 1989 served as the catalyst for Merkel's political career.<ref name="Huggler-2015" /> Although she did not participate in the crowd celebrations the night the wall came down, one month later Merkel became involved in the growing democracy movement, joining the new party [[Democratic Awakening]] ({{lang|de|Demokratischer Aufbruch}}, abbreviated to DA).<ref name="Huggler-2015" /> Party Leader [[Wolfgang Schnur]] appointed her as press spokeswoman of the party in February 1990. However, Schnur was revealed to have served as an "[[Unofficial collaborator|informal co-worker]]" for the [[Stasi]] just a few weeks ahead of the [[1990 East German general election|first (and only) multi-party election in 1990]] and was later expelled from the party. As a result, the DA lost most of its electoral support, only managing to obtain four seats in the [[Volkskammer]]. However, because the DA was a member party of the [[Alliance for Germany]], which won the election in a landslide, the DA was included in the government coalition. Merkel was appointed deputy spokesperson of this last pre-[[German reunification|unification]] government under [[Lothar de Maizière]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Angela Merkel|last=Langguth|first=Gerd|date=August 2005|publisher=DTV|isbn=3-423-24485-2|location=Munich|pages=112–137|language=de|orig-year=2005}}</ref>

De Maizière was impressed with the way Merkel handled journalists investigating Schnur's role in the Stasi.<ref name="Crawford, Alan Czuczka, Tony">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-09-19/angela-merkels-early-years-in-east-germany-shaped-her-crisis-politics|title=Angela Merkel's Years in East Germany Shaped Her Crisis Politics|last1=Crawford|first1=Alan|date=20 September 2013|publisher=Bloomberg L.P.|access-date=29 April 2017|last2=Czuczka|first2=Tony|archive-date=9 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709045819/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-09-19/angela-merkels-early-years-in-east-germany-shaped-her-crisis-politics|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Huggler-2015">{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/angela-merkel/11920552/10-moments-that-define-German-chancellor-Angela-Merkel.html|title=10 moments that define German chancellor Angela Merkel|last=Huggler|first=Justin|date=9 October 2015|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=29 April 2017|language=en|archive-date=22 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170522105808/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/angela-merkel/11920552/10-moments-that-define-German-chancellor-Angela-Merkel.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In April 1990, the DA merged with the [[Christian Democratic Union (East Germany)|East German Christian Democratic Union]], which in turn merged with its western counterpart after reunification.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Agethen |first=Manfred |title=Demokratischer Aufbruch (DA) – Geschichte der CDU |url=https://www.kas.de/de/web/geschichte-der-cdu/demokratischer-aufbruch-da- |access-date=5 June 2023 |website=Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung |language=de |archive-date=5 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605115239/https://www.kas.de/de/web/geschichte-der-cdu/demokratischer-aufbruch-da- |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Demokratischer Aufbruch |url=https://www.bpb.de/kurz-knapp/lexika/politiklexikon/17322/demokratischer-aufbruch/ |access-date=5 June 2023 |website=Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung |language=de |archive-date=5 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605115238/https://www.bpb.de/kurz-knapp/lexika/politiklexikon/17322/demokratischer-aufbruch/ |url-status=live }}</ref>