BERLIN — Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU) have agreed to back Ilse Aigner, the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) politician who presides over Bavaria's state parliament, as the joint candidate of Germany's centre-right Union for federal president, German media reported on Friday, 6 November 2026. If she is elected by the Federal Convention on Saturday, 30 January 2027, the 61-year-old former federal agriculture minister would become Germany's first female head of state — and the first president from the CSU in the Federal Republic's 77-year history.
Illustration: The Reichstag in Berlin, where the Federal Convention will meet on 30 January 2027 to elect Germany's next president.
What Happened
According to Reuters, which reported the story on Friday, 6 November 2026, Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats have agreed to support Ilse Aigner's nomination for the presidency, after weeks of tension between the two sister parties. Bild, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Der Spiegel all reported on Friday that the CDU had agreed to back her, Reuters said.
The CSU put forward Aigner's name earlier this year, but the CDU held back from endorsing her while Merz considered alternatives, straining relations between the parties, Reuters reported. The CSU first put her name forward in April 2026 and formally backed her at its Munich party congress about two weeks before the reports emerged, according to a dpa report carried by Der Tagesspiegel. Merz addressed that congress but avoided endorsing her, Rapporteur reported.
Christian Democrat state premiers in eastern Germany openly backed Aigner one after another this week. "I think she's a good choice," said Thuringia's Minister-President Mario Voigt, while Sven Schulze, the outgoing Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt, declared that "Ilse Aigner would be an excellent candidate," Rapporteur reported. Michael Kretschmer of Saxony and Manuel Hagel of Baden-Württemberg also backed her. Merz had already signalled the direction of travel on Monday, 2 November, telling CDU district chairpersons that he would propose a woman from the political centre. "I have made up my mind on one point: it must be a woman," he reportedly emphasised, according to AFP reporting. The SPD welcomed the announcement: its Parliamentary Managing Director Dirk Wiese said he had campaigned for months for "a woman to hold the highest office in the state".
Yet the CDU has not formally confirmed the agreement. A CDU spokesperson declined to comment ahead of an official announcement expected after meetings on Monday, 9 November, Reuters reported. "I can neither confirm nor deny that and would refer you to the committee meetings on Monday," the spokesperson told Reuters. The CDU's presidium and executive board meet on Monday, when a formal decision is expected. Thorsten Frei, the CDU/CSU parliamentary leader, praised Aigner to Bild but stopped short of endorsing her.
Aigner has already received strong verbal backing from members of the Social Democrats and some Greens, Reuters reported, and according to n-tv, SPD leader Lars Klingbeil has assured Aigner of his party's support. That cross-party sympathy matters: the CDU, CSU and SPD together hold a majority of about 50 votes in the Federal Convention. At the same time, Merz's allies have kept an alternative in play, more forcefully putting forward Bundestag president Julia Klöckner, Rapporteur reported. Culture minister Wolfram Weimer, a close Merz confidant, again floated Klöckner's name this week; Education Minister Karin Prien has also been mentioned.
Background
Germany's president holds a largely ceremonial position, signing laws and formally appointing ministers, but can play a significant role as a moral voice beyond daily politics, Reuters noted. The president represents Germany at home and abroad and can refuse to sign a law deemed unconstitutional. The office is deliberately set above party politics.
The next president is chosen not by voters directly, but by the Federal Convention, or Bundesversammlung, whose sole function is to elect the head of state. The 18th Federal Convention will meet at the Bundestag in Berlin on Saturday, 30 January 2027, a date set by Bundestag President Julia Klöckner in February 2026. The convention has 1,260 members — 630 Bundestag lawmakers and an equal number of delegates chosen by the sixteen state parliaments — and votes by secret ballot without debate. A candidate needs at least 631 votes to win on either of the first two ballots; if neither produces a winner, a plurality is enough on the third.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a Social Democrat, has served two five-year terms and cannot seek a third consecutive term; his second term ends in March 2027. Elected in 2017 and re-elected in 2022, his tenure has spanned the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
All 12 heads of state in the Federal Republic's 77-year history have been men. Six previous presidents came from the CDU, three from the SPD and two from the FDP; Joachim Gauck had no party affiliation. An Aigner presidency would therefore be a double first: the first woman to hold Germany's highest office, and the first president from the CSU, which has supplied chancellors and ministers but never a head of state.
Now 61, Aigner trained as an electrical engineering technician and worked on electrical systems for helicopter maker Eurocopter. She entered the federal parliament in 1998 and served as federal agriculture minister under former Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2008 to 2013. She then returned to Bavaria, becoming president of the state parliament — the Bavarian Landtag — in 2018.
The road to Friday's reports was far from smooth. Merz had said in August 2025 that he could "very well imagine" a first female president, but named no candidate for months. According to Rapporteur, the manoeuvring poisoned recent CDU executive meetings, and criticism of Merz grew after poor state election results. The SPD and Greens have been less enthusiastic about Klöckner, whom both parties accused of lacking political neutrality early in her Bundestag presidency.
Readers of this blog should note what this story is — and is not. This report concerns the presidential nomination reported on Friday, 6 November 2026. It is not our 25 October 2026 report on Chancellor Merz's call for unity amid coalition strains at a CSU conference, about party management rather than the presidential choice. Nor is it our 29 October 2026 report on President Steinmeier's Beijing visit and meeting with Xi Jinping, about the sitting president's diplomacy rather than the search for his successor.
Illustration: A woman politician addresses a parliament chamber. If elected, Ilse Aigner would be Germany's first female head of state.
Why It Matters
The most obvious significance is symbolic. For 77 years, every German head of state has been a man. Electing a woman to Bellevue Palace, the president's Berlin residence, would close one of the last all-male bastions of German public life, in a country led for sixteen years by Angela Merkel. Merz's reported words — "it must be a woman" — show he understands the symbolism, and the SPD's Dirk Wiese called the step "long overdue".
The second significance is partisan. For the CSU, securing the presidency for one of its own would be a historic prize. The Bavarian party has long seen itself as the junior partner, supplying votes and ministers while the CDU supplied chancellors and presidents. A CSU president would rebalance that relationship and hand party leader Markus Söder, who has promoted Aigner since April, a lasting legacy. For the CDU, accepting a CSU candidate means giving up a presidency it has held six times, after Merz spent weeks insisting the larger party should name its own candidate. Friday's reported agreement, if confirmed on Monday, will therefore be read inside the Union as a measure of Merz's authority.
The third significance concerns the governing coalition. A candidate who commands support across the coalition — and ideally beyond it, among the Greens — would give the government a rare moment of unity after a bruising autumn. The CDU/CSU and SPD together hold a majority of about 50 votes in the Federal Convention, and Green backing would widen it further. A first-round victory on 30 January would let Merz present the result as a broad national consensus. A contested or multi-ballot election would expose the very divisions the nomination was meant to heal.
There is also an institutional dimension. The president's power is soft power: speeches, state visits, and the moral authority to speak when the government cannot or will not. Aigner would bring a different biography to that role — technician, former agriculture minister, Bavarian parliamentarian — and a different voice. Finally, the nomination is a test of Merz's chancellorship: the succession was supposed to be straightforward consensus-building, but it became a public power struggle, with eastern premiers breaking ranks and ministers floating rival names. How the Union presents its decision on Monday will set the tone for the months ahead.
Illustration: The Bavarian Landtag in Munich, where Ilse Aigner has served as president of the state parliament since 2018.
What Happens Next
The immediate next step is Monday, 9 November, when the CDU's presidium and executive board meet in Berlin to discuss Steinmeier's succession. A formal decision on the joint Union nomination is expected then, and the CDU spokesperson's refusal to confirm or deny Friday's reports points directly to those meetings as the moment of announcement. If the CDU confirms its backing, the two party chairs — Merz and CSU leader Markus Söder — are expected to present the joint proposal together.
After Monday, attention will turn to the other parties: the SPD has signalled support and the Greens have shown sympathy, but formal endorsements will be watched closely. The Convention's 1,260 members vote by secret ballot, and members are not bound by party endorsements, so a nomination is not the same as an election. Other candidates remain in the field: the left-wing BSW has put forward Gabriele Krone-Schmalz, a former broadcaster, as its candidate. The question is whether Aigner can secure the 631 votes needed for a first-round victory on 30 January, or whether the election goes to a second or third ballot.
Once the nomination is formal, Aigner is expected to meet the parliamentary groups and state delegations that make up the Convention. Steinmeier remains in office until March 2027, and the handover — from a two-term Social Democrat president to a CSU politician who would be the first woman in the job — would mark one of the most significant transitions in the history of the presidency. This blog will follow the announcement on Monday and the campaign in the weeks ahead.
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FAQ
Who is Ilse Aigner?
Ilse Aigner, 61, is a CSU politician and president of Bavaria's state parliament, the Landtag, since 2018. She trained as an electrical engineering technician, worked for helicopter maker Eurocopter, entered the Bundestag in 1998, and was federal agriculture minister under Angela Merkel from 2008 to 2013.
Has the CDU formally nominated Aigner for president yet?
Not yet. Bild, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Der Spiegel reported on Friday, 6 November, that the CDU had agreed to back her, but a CDU spokesperson declined to confirm or deny the reports, referring questions to committee meetings on Monday, 9 November, when a formal decision is expected.
When and how will Germany's next president be elected?
The 18th Federal Convention, or Bundesversammlung, meets at the Bundestag in Berlin on Saturday, 30 January 2027. Its 1,260 members — 630 Bundestag lawmakers plus 630 delegates chosen by the sixteen state parliaments — vote by secret ballot. A candidate needs at least 631 votes on the first or second ballot; otherwise a plurality suffices on the third.
Why would Aigner's election be historic?
She would be Germany's first female head of state: all 12 presidents in the Federal Republic's history have been men. She would also be the first president from the CSU: six previous presidents came from the CDU, three from the SPD and two from the FDP, while Joachim Gauck had no party affiliation.
Is this the same story as earlier reports about Merz and Steinmeier on this blog?
No. This article reports the presidential nomination news of Friday, 6 November. It differs from our 25 October 2026 report on Chancellor Merz's call for unity amid coalition strains at a CSU conference, and from our 29 October 2026 report on President Steinmeier's Beijing visit and meeting with Xi Jinping. Neither earlier story concerned the choice of his successor.
Sources
- Reuters — "Merz's party backs former minister Ilse Aigner for German president, media reports say", 6 November 2026 — https://www.reuters.com/world/merzs-party-backs-former-minister-ilse-aigner-german-president-media-reports-say-2026-11-06/
- Rapporteur — "Merz's silence fuels Christian Democrat power struggle over presidency", 6 November 2026 — https://www.rapporteur.com/news/merzs-silence-fuels-christian-democrat-power-struggle-over-presidency/
- Nachrichtentakt — "Frei Praises Aigner as CDU and CSU Near Presidential Nomination" (reporting Der Tagesspiegel / dpa), 4 November 2026 — https://www.nachrichtentakt.de/politics/frei-praises-aigner-as-cdu-and-csu-near-presidential-nomination/
- Newsworm — "Merz Wants a Woman to Become Germany's Next Federal President" (AFP reporting), 3 November 2026, updated 6 November 2026 — https://www.newsworm.de/news/merz-wants-a-woman-to-become-germanys-next-federal-president
- Wikipedia — "2027 German presidential election", accessed 6 November 2026 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2027_German_presidential_election
- The Berlin Spectator — "Ilse Aigner: Germany's Next Federal President?", 26 October 2026 — https://berlinspectator.com/2026/10/26/ilse-aigner-germanys-next-federal-president/
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