Who Is Friedrich Merz of Germany? NYT | Top Stories By: Christopher F. Schuetze 19 December 2024 at 02:04 If polls are correct, Olaf Scholz’s successor could be the 69-year-old leader of the Christian Democratic Union. He is offering to get the German economic engine humming again. © Tobias Schwarz/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesFriedrich Merz, right, the leader of the Christian Democratic Union, addressing Germany’s lower house of Parliament ahead of a no-confidence vote against Chancellor Olaf Scholz, left, on Monday.