The general election will take place on September 26th.
The parties have already positioned themselves months in advance with their top candidates.
Berlin / Munich - Angela Merkel (CDU) is renouncing another candidacy for chancellor in the summer of 2021. After 16 years in office, Merkel will be leaving office.
Other parties are also sending some completely new top candidates into the race.
Before the election takes place in Germany, we will introduce you to the staff of the parties currently represented in the Bundestag.
An overview of the candidates.
Federal election 2021: The CDU sends top candidate Armin Laschet into the race
It was a power struggle that lasted for weeks on an open stage.
Armin Laschet (CDU) and Markus Söder (CSU) both claimed the Union's candidacy for chancellor.
Ultimately, the CDU chairman prevailed and is now leading the Union in the federal election campaign.
In the past, the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia was connected to his homeland.
The son of a miner from Aachen is now reaching for the highest government office in Germany.
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Armin Laschet reaches for the Chancellery for the CDU
© Michael Kappeler / dpa
The lawyer and journalist joined the CDU in 1979, followed by a great political career.
Laschet sat in the Bundestag for the first time in 1994.
In 2012 he was promoted to chairman of the CDU regional association in North Rhine-Westphalia.
In 2017, the citizens of North Rhine-Westphalia elected him Prime Minister.
Now the next big career step is to follow: On April 20, the CDU announced that Armin Laschet should inherit Angela Merkel in the Chancellery.
The 60-year-old top candidate has three children.
Federal election 2021: Annalena Baerbock should set it up for the Greens
The Greens can look forward to strong poll results.
After the Spitzenkandidaten decision, the party was initially able to grow further and could permanently overtake the Union.
The pressure on top candidate Annalena Baerbock grows all the more.
The party leader could become the first female Green Chancellor.
Born in Hanover, she studied international law and political science and worked as a journalist for the Hannoversche Allgemeine from 2005 to 2008.
She has been a member of the Greens since 2005.
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Annalena Baerbock is the Greens' candidate for chancellor
© Kay Nietfeld / dpa
Annalena Baerbock's political career took off in 2009.
As a board member of the European Green Party, she became known to the public, other offices followed.
From 2009 to 2013, Baerbock was party leader of the Greens in Brandenburg before moving into the Bundestag in 2013.
Then in 2018 the big step: Baerbock was elected party chairman.
Now the Hanoverian is leading her party into the federal election campaign.
The 41-year-old is married and has two children.
Federal election campaign 2021: AfD agrees on top candidates Chrupalla and Weidel
The AfD * at the federal level is considered divided.
Power struggles and disputes over direction determine the party congresses, but in May the party was able to agree on two top candidates for the federal election.
Federal spokesman Tino Chrupalla and the chairman of the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Alice Weidel, lead the AfD into the election campaign.
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The AfD agrees on Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla as top candidates
© Kay Nietfeld / dpa
Chrupalla, born on April 14, 1975 in Weißwasser, Saxony, is a master painter.
In 2015 he joined the AfD and in 2017 rose to become deputy chairman of the AfD parliamentary group.
During the election campaign he formed a duo with Alice Weidel.
The 42-year-old completed her studies in business administration and economics with a doctorate.
In 2013 Weidel joined the AfD, then worked his way up to the federal executive board.
The right-wing populists are only running for the second time in a federal election after 2017.
Federal election 2021: Olaf Scholz - the SPD's hope
The SPD nominated its candidate for chancellor earlier than any other party.
The party leadership decided in favor of Olaf Scholz as early as August 2020.
Born in Osnabrück, he grew up in Hamburg and started his political career there.
Before he began his law studies, Scholz joined the SPD at the age of 17 and climbed the career ladder.
In the 1980s he was deputy federal chairman of the Jusos, the youth organization of the SPD, and in 1998 he moved into the Bundestag.
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The SPD relies on Olaf Scholz in the federal election campaign
© Kay Nietfeld / dpa
From 2011 to 2018, Scholz held the office of First Mayor in Hamburg before moving to Angela Merkel's cabinet table.
After the 2017 federal election, the SPD politician was appointed finance minister and vice chancellor.
The lawyer and today's top candidate for the federal election can already look back on government experience.
The voters will decide on September 26th whether there will be enough chancellor.
Federal election 2021: Christian Lindner leads the FDP
In the last federal election in 2017, the FDP would have had the chance to participate in the government.
The "Jamaica" negotiations failed, the Liberals went into the opposition.
Then as now at its head: Christian Lindner.
Born in Wuppertal, he grew up in North Rhine-Westphalia and, according to his own statements, became interested in politics at an early age.
After the now 42-year-old joined the FDP in 1995, he was the owner of an advertising agency and co-founder of an internet company from 1997 to 2004.
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Christian Lindner leads the FDP in the election campaign
© Michael Kappeler / dpa
Lindner's steep career began in politics in 2000 when he entered the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament.
From 2009 to 2012 he was a member of the Bundestag, from 2009 to 2011 he was General Secretary of the FDP.
In 2013 he was elected federal chairman.
As in 2017, Lindner will lead his party as the top candidate in the federal election campaign in 2021, with the aim of assuming government responsibility.
Federal election 2021: The Left counts on the top candidate duo Wissler / Bartsch
After 9.2 percent of the votes in the previous federal election in 2017, the Left wants to improve its result - and sends Janine Wissler and Dietmar Bartsch into the race.
The economist Bartsch led the election campaign of the left in 2017.
For the election on September 26, 2021, he will receive support from Janine Wissler.
The studied political scientist leads the party together with Susanne Hennig-Wellsow.
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Dietmar Bartsch and Janine Wissler form the top duo of the left for the federal election
© Kay Nietfeld / dpa
In contrast to Dietmar Bartsch, member of the Bundestag, Wissler represents the interests of her party in the Hessian state parliament.
The political scientist belongs to the left wing of the party.
Bartsch can imagine a red-red-green government coalition at the federal level.
