Friedrich Merz is poised to become chancellor at a challenging time for Germany. But in a first round of voting in Parliament, he fell short Tuesday of getting enough votes to be named leader.

He first joined the German parliament in 1994. A pilot who is openly passionate about his hobby, Merz sometimes would fly his own small plane from his home in the Sauerland region in western Germany ...

There is a telling rumor in Berlin political circles. Upon his appointment as leader of Germany’s Christian Democrats (CDU) ...

Mr. Merz, now 69, was born and still lives in the Sauerland, a district of western Germany known for hills, heavy food and picturesque nature. It was from there that he was first elected into the ...

Here’s what to know about him. Merz comes from a conservative Catholic family in western Germany’s rural Sauerland region. He joined the CDU’s youth wing in 1972 and entered politics full ...

A pilot who is openly passionate about his hobby, Merz sometimes would fly his own small plane from his home in the Sauerland region in western Germany to Berlin on Monday mornings. He has stuck ...