Why did Angela Merkel decide to leave the chancellorship in 2021?

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“Queen of Europe” — Angela Merkel Angela Merkel, the first woman to serve as chancellor of Germany, 2012.

Angela Merkel decided to step down as chancellor at the end of her term in 2021 following poor electoral performances by her party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), in regional elections.

In October 2018, the CDU suffered a dismal result in the Hesse regional elections, which followed a similarly poor performance by her Bavarian allies, the Christian Social Union (CSU), in Bavaria. In response to these setbacks, Merkel announced that she would not seek reelection as CDU leader and declared her intention to leave the chancellorship at the conclusion of her fourth term in 2021.12