Ursula von der Leyen is the only prominent figure in the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who still mentions Angela Merkel in her speeches. There is a quiet tribute to Merkel, her predecessor in the unofficial title of “the most powerful woman in Europe.” Merkel, now out of office and leadership, entrusted von der Leyen with one ministry after another during her sixteen years in power, the last being Defense. In 2019, von der Leyen rose to the presidency of the European Commission (EC).
The German conservative bloc has left behind the centrism Merkel represented to lean right. Von der Leyen learned from her mentor to seek consensus at the edge of the possible. Today she is recognized as the sole survivor of the “Merkel system,” which the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), have declared dead.
The CDU’s affiliation to von der Leyen comes by family lineage. She was born in the Brussels region in 1958, where her father, Ernst Albrecht, resided before becoming prime minister of the state of Lower Saxony from 1976 to 1990 and a regional conservative baron. She bears the surname shared by many in her circle, a name she carries into marriage with Heiko von der Leyen, a physician and industrialist. They wed in 1986 and have seven children. The youngest, Grace, was six when she took on the first of the ministries Merkel assigned in 2005, the Family ministry. The sequence continued with Labor and finally Defense in subsequent terms.
Conciliating family life with a political career has obvious advantages tied to elite circles and high-income households. It also hinges on the ability to “make oneself seen,” something she learned as a girl being the youngest of five brothers. The family nickname for her was “Röschen,” a small, nimble, blonde girl who loved riding, was disciplined, meticulous, and obsessively organized. Those traits persist in a woman who often references her role as a mother of seven and grandmother of two when the moment calls.
There is a sense that von der Leyen’s ascent carries a prodigy-like edge, tempered by occasional missteps. Her rises have been marked by scandals that nearly toppled her. The most serious occurred while she served as Defense minister, a period during which she was still viewed as Merkel’s likely successor. Allegations of plagiarism in her medical doctorate, later attributed to errors rather than intent, left a stain on her image. Worse were investigations into irregularities and favoritism in Defense contracting and advisory appointments.
When it seemed her career would falter, she became the emblem of Franco-German compromise for the EC presidency. President Emmanuel Macron blocked the European People’s Party candidate, Bavarian Manfred Weber, creating space for von der Leyen. Although she did not formally originate from Berlin, she emerged from Paris, avoiding the appearance of a German-imposed choice.
Scandals and criticism marked her early EC tenure. She was initially seen as the “personification of Europeanism” by voters in a city that houses the European Union’s core institutions, though she held German nationality and speaks multiple languages, including English, French, Spanish, Italian, and German. Her first EC term faced challenges as Europe contended with health and economic strains from the pandemic. Questions about favoritism in vaccine procurement followed, and in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, she quickly became a leading European voice in support of Kyiv and a pillar for President Volodymyr Zelensky. At times she clashed with Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, over whose authority should govern foreign and defense policy.
Nothing weighed more on her reelection bid for the EC than the perceived closeness to far-right Italian leader Giorgia Meloni, a relationship that stirred tensions among center-left parties and their European allies. Yet it was clear that the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, would likely back her in shaping the bloc’s leadership slate. Blocking a fellow German from the top post would have been an unacceptable misstep from the German perspective.
Enduring attention to her career involves balancing a storied family history with a high-stakes political present. Her trajectory illustrates how personal history and public duty intertwine in shaping one of Europe’s most influential political figures. This portrait, while sweeping, recognizes the nuance and complexity that have defined von der Leyen’s leadership on the European stage. [attribution: political profiles, contemporary coverage, and a synthesis of public records]
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