Brigitte Zypries is a German lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Between 2017 and 2018, she served as Minister for Economics and Energy in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel; she was the first woman to hold that office in German history.
Horst Lorenz Seehofer is a German politician who served as Minister for the Interior, Building and Community under Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2018 to 2021. A member of the Christian Social Union (CSU), he served as the 18th minister-president of Bavaria from 2008 to 2018 and Leader of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria from 2008 to 2019.
Franz Josef Jung is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He became Federal Minister of Defence in the Grand coalition cabinet of Angela Merkel on 22 November 2005. In October 2009 he became Minister of Labour and Social Affairs but resigned a month later.
Sebastian Edathy is a German former politician. He was a prominent member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and became the chairman of a key committee in January 2012 at the Parliament, which was investigating failures of police and intelligence units in the serial murders of nine immigrants by the far-right German terrorist group National Socialist Underground (NSU) from 2000 to 2007. The NSU committee questioned various officials from Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office during 2012 and 2013. His alleged possession of child porn material sparked the Edathy-Affäre.
Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger is a German politician of the liberal Free Democratic Party and a prominent advocate of human rights in Germany and Europe. Within the FDP, she is a leading figure of the social-liberal wing. She served as Federal Minister of Justice of Germany from 1992 to 1996 in the cabinet of Helmut Kohl and again in the second Merkel cabinet from 2009 to 2013. In 2013, the new German government announced Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger's candidacy for the office of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
Thomas Ludwig Albert Oppermann was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). From October 2017 until his death he served as Vice President of the Bundestag. In his earlier career, he served as First Secretary (2007–2013) and later as chairman (2013–2017) of the SPD Parliamentary Group in the Bundestag.
Dorothee Gisela Renate Maria Bär is a German politician of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag since 2002. From 2014 to 2021, she served in various capacities in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Norbert Barthle is a German politician of the Christian Democratic (CDU) who served as a member of the Bundestag from 1998 until 2021, representing Backnang – Schwäbisch Gmünd.
Maria Böhmer is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Under the leadership of successive ministers Frank-Walter Steinmeier (2013-2017) and Sigmar Gabriel (2017), she served as Minister of State in the Federal Foreign Office, primarily responsible for cultural relations and education policy.
The Second Merkel cabinet was the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany during the 17th legislative session of the Bundestag. Installed after the 2009 federal election, it left office on 17 December 2013. It was preceded by the first Merkel cabinet and succeeded by the third Merkel cabinet. Led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, it was supported by a coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU), and the Free Democratic Party (FDP).
Roderich Kiesewetter is a former Bundeswehr general staff officer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag since 2009.
Jens Georg Spahn is a German politician who served as Federal Minister of Health in the fourth cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2018 to 2021. A member of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he has been the member of the lower house of the federal parliament, the Bundestag, for Steinfurt I – Borken I since 2002.
Marco Wanderwitz is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). From 2018 until 2021, he served as Parliamentary State Secretary in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Markus Thomas Theodor Söder is a German politician serving as Minister-President of Bavaria since 2018 and leader of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) since 2019.
Stephan Ernst Johann Mayer is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Social Union (CSU) who has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2002. In 2022, he briefly served as the Secretary General of the CSU, under the leadership of the party's chairman Markus Söder.
Michael Kretschmer is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as Minister President of Saxony since December 2017. Since 2022, he has been one of four deputy chairs of the CDU, under the leadership of chairman Friedrich Merz.
Armin Schuster is a German politician. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Schuster has been serving as State Minister of Internal Affairs in the government of Minister-President Michael Kretschmer since 2022.
Enak Ferlemann is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since 2002.
Günter Krings is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia since 2002.
Thomas Walther Rachel is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia since 1994. From 2005 until 2021, he also served as Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
