Analysis of the chancellors’ trips: Merkel and Co. have visited these countries particularly often

  • Traum-Ferienwohnungen analyses the official foreign trips of all eight German chancellors
  • With a total of 487 trips abroad, Angela Merkel travelled five times as often as her predecessor Gerhard Schröder
  • Brussels, Paris, Warsaw and Washington are among the top destinations

At the end of September, German chancellor Angela Merkel will be replaced after 16 years in office. During her time as the chancellor, she has clocked up quite a few air miles representing Germany as head of government abroad. We have found out which cities and countries the chancellor has visited the most and how often she has travelled compared to the previous chancellors of the Republic.

According to the results, Merkel has made the most trips abroad, with a total of 487. By comparison, her immediate predecessor Gerhard Schröder only made 94 visits outside Germany, and even the longest-serving chancellor of the German Republic, Helmut Kohl, ranks behind Merkel with 76 trips abroad.

The current chancellor visited Brussels, Warsaw and Washington particularly often: 110 trips alone went to the Belgian capital, which is the official headquarters of the European Union. Angela Merkel was also a frequent guest of the Pope and took part in a total of six audiences.

Which chancellor has travelled the most? We answer this question in this table:

Here you can see which cities Merkel has travelled to the most:

Here you can see which countries Merkel has travelled to the most:

On the other hand, all previous chancellors of Germany have been most frequent guests in these cities and states:

Most of the chancellors' trips abroad took place during these months:

2015 was the year with the most foreign trips of Angela Merkel. You can see how often she travelled in the other years here:

About the study
All official foreign trips of every chancellor from 1952 to 2021 that were announced by the Federal Government were taken into account (as of 17th August 2021).