He dedicates his life to science, far away from the political hype of his wife, former Chancellor Angela Merkel: Prof. Dr. Joachim Sauer.
He is a mysterious person. A man like an extremely sparsely written page in the entertainment country of Germany. The only thing the general public reliably knows about this man: He is a professor of physical and theoretical chemistry and has been married since 1998 to former Chancellor Angela Merkel (69), who was once considered the most powerful woman in the world. Furthermore, it is an official fact that this Joachim Sauer will be 75 years old on April 19th.
A fixture of science
Things are completely different in his professional environment: Joachim Sauer is a celebrity in the limited circle of the scientific elite. He is an internationally successful quantum chemist and worked as a professor at Berlin’s Humboldt University for many years.
The National Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina, of which he has been a member since 2007, names his research focus: quantum chemistry of large chemical systems, translated as follows: “He deals with zeolites and silicon oxides. The layman would say sand. But the layman can also see the sand only the grains. Joachim Sauer sees molecules that have joined together to form irregular lattices. There are cavities in them, like in a sponge, into which you can build something, for example, a substance that accelerates a chemical reaction of petroleum, for example.”
Such things as well as further scientific details are given by Prof. Dr. Joachim Sauer reveals himself, otherwise basically little to nothing.
He met Angela Merkel 40 years ago
Angela Merkel, née Kasner, and Joachim Sauer met in 1984 at the Academy of Sciences in Berlin-Adlershof. They got married on December 30, 1998, making it the second marriage for both of them.
At this point, Angela Merkel is general secretary of the CDU and her husband is a full professor at Humboldt University. Both kept their last names, and seven years later she became the first female chancellor of the Federal Republic. He won’t come to the Bundestag for her inauguration; he has urgent appointments at the university.
Merkel only gives very sparse information about Joachim Sauer: He is “a great guy”, she likes his self-confidence, his calmness and distance from many things, but he is still “a happy person”. The conversations with him were “almost vital” for her. He is said to have given his wife a complete collection of Louis de Funès films – so that she, as Chancellor, could better understand the French.
“I’m not a housewife. And he’s not a househusband”
Her husband is a “really good advisor,” the most important of all, say political insiders. Merkel spoke briefly about her marriage in the magazine “Bunte”: She is responsible for breakfast, he usually turns on the washing machine, but: “I’m not a housewife. And he’s not a househusband.”
Only two sentences can be heard from him on this topic: “My person has no relationship to Angela Merkel’s political work. That’s why I’m not interesting to the public.” When a lady at the table at a reception asked him whether he worked at the Free University or at the Humboldt University, he simply replied: “Yes.”
As “First Husband”, Joachim Sauer is a phantom to the public, or rather a phantom of the opera, because he introduced his wife to the opera. His love for Wagner is as obvious as his love for nature, as the couple’s cross-country skiing and hiking holidays in South Tyrol attest.
And how will the professor celebrate his 75th birthday? With his wife and family on the holiday property in the Uckermark? With homemade cake and Angela Merkel’s famous potato soup? Nothing precise is known. It’s really a private matter!
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
