Date formed 28 October 2009 Head of government Angela Merkel | Date dissolved 17 December 2013 | |
 | ||
Member party Christian Democratic Union
Christian Social Union of Bavaria
Free Democratic Party Status in legislature CDU led coalition government Opposition party Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Left
The Greens | ||
The second Merkel cabinet was the Government of Germany during the 17th legislative session of the Bundestag following the 2009 federal election, and left office on 17 December 2013. It was preceded in office by the first Merkel cabinet. Led by Chancellor Angela Merkel (the first female chancellor in German history), 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).
Contents
The cabinet served as a caretaker government following the elections on 22 September 2013; which saw the removal of the Free Democratic Party from the Bundestag. Negotiations between the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democratics (SPD) took place to form a new cabinet, and the second Merkel cabinet was succeeded by the Merkel III cabinet on 17 December 2013.
Composition
The second Merkel cabinet was composed of the following ministers:
Resignations, Dismissals, and Replacements
The second Merkel cabinet has been reshuffled several times. The first change occurred on 30 November 2009, when Franz Josef Jung resigned as Labour Minister amidst controversy surrounding the Kunduz airstrike, which happened while he was Defense Minister in the previous cabinet. He was succeeded by former Family Affairs Minister Ursula von der Leyen, who was in turn succeeded by Kristina Schröder.
On 3 March 2011, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg stepped down as Defense Minister following the discovery of plagiarized content in his doctoral dissertation. He was succeeded by former Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière, who was in turn succeeded by Hans-Peter Friedrich.
On 10 May 2011, Rainer Brüderle was elected as the FDP's parliamentary leader and resigned his position as Economics Minister. He was succeeded by former Health Minister Philipp Rösler, who was in turn succeeded by Daniel Bahr. On 13 May 2011, the FDP elected Rösler to succeed Guido Westerwelle as party chairman. Rösler was then named Vice-Chancellor on 16 May 2011, succeeding Westerwelle in this position as well. Westerwelle retained the position of Foreign Minister.
On 16 May 2012, Merkel requested that President Joachim Gauck dismiss Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen after the CDU's defeat in the North Rhine-Westphalia state election. Röttgen had been CDU chairman for that state. He was dismissed on 22 May 2012 and was succeeded as Environment Minister by Peter Altmaier.
On 5 February 2013, Annette Schavan was stripped of her doctorate by the University of Düsseldorf due to alleged plagiarism in her PhD thesis. She resigned on 9 February 2013 and was succeeded by Johanna Wanka.