Where Germany's leaders go on summer vacation

According to a government spokesperson, Chancellor Friedrich Merz is taking a short vacation with his wife, Charlotte, at an undisclosed location in Germany. The Chancellery refused to disclose details, but Merz is expected to spend time in his hometown in the Sauerland or his house on Lake Tegernsee in Bavaria.

Former Chancellor Olaf Scholz hails from Germany's far north, but he chose the Bavarian Alps in the country's south for his hiking vacation in 2024. He and his wife reportedly rented a holiday home in Nesselwang in the Allgäu region.

Angela Merkel, chancellor from 2005 to 2021, was a fan of hiking trips. She vacationed in a mountain village in South Tyrol for many years. There, she and her husband stayed in a modest, four-star hotel and enjoyed their peace and quiet. Here, in 2006, she joined mountaineer Reinhold Messner for a hike in the Dolomites.

Gerhard Schröder (left), chancellor from 1998 to 2005, traveled to Mallorca in late July 2000, choosing what is arguably the Germans' most beloved holiday destination. The Schröders enjoyed the privacy of a finca, a country house, rather than joining the partying crowds at the notorious Ballermann beach district.

Helmut Kohl, chancellor from 1982 to 1998, traditionally vacationed in the Austrian town of St. Gilgen, where in August 1986 he was photographed rowing a boat on Wolfgangssee with his wife, Hannelore. It was no secret that he used his vacation both to keep on working as well as try to lose weight. He stuck to a strict diet of water and dry bread rolls.

Helmut Schmidt vacationed in his small wood cabin on Lake Brahmsee, 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) southwest of Kiel in the northernmost part of Germany. It was the Hamburg native's retreat in the middle of nature. Schmidt, chancellor from 1974 to 1982, and his wife were said to be fully integrated into the village community, spending their time gardening, reading and playing chess.

Willy Brandt, chancellor from 1969 to 1974, liked to vacation in Norway, where he had spent years in exile during Nazi rule. This was also the country of origin of his wife, Rut.

Kurt Georg Kiesinger vacationed on Lake Constance, in Germany's far southwest, about an hour's drive from his place of birth. Kiesinger, chancellor from 1966 to 1969, was a trained lawyer and a poet. At the time, the leftist student movement criticized him for failing to address his past as a member of the Nazi party.

Ludwig Erhard, chancellor from 1963 to 1966, is known for leading the West German postwar economic reforms and recovery in his role as economy minister before becoming chancellor. He had a reputation for being a modest man who lived inconspicuously. He traveled to Gmund on Bavaria's Tegernsee twice every year for brief vacations with his family.

Konrad Adenauer, the first chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963, was a devout Catholic, hailing from Cologne in Germany's west. He vacationed in the Villa La Collina from 1959 to 1966. His party, the center-right Christian Democratic Union, purchased the building in 1977 and turned it into a guest house for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.