Angela Merkel - who was not present at the ceremony - is the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he would give her the award on her next state visit. She is the first woman and first East German to serve as Chancellor of a unified Germany, which this year marks its 20th anniversary. She has often said that freedom is the happiest experience of her life. Chancellor Merkel was born in Hamburg but was raised in what was then Communist East Germany after her family moved to Templin. Her political career began when she joined the new Democratic Awakening party in 1989 after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1990, as West and East Germany merged into one reunited country, her party joined with the Christian Democratic Union, and she was elected to the German parliament. She has been chairman of the CDU since April 2000 and was recently reelected to another term. REUTERSA forensic expert examines an U.S. Army bus in front of Frankfurt airport, March 2, 2011.REUTERS
