Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (née Albrecht; born 8 October 1958) is a German politician who has been the Minister of Defence since 2013, and is the first woman in German history to hold that office. A doctor by profession, she previously also served as the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs from 2009 to 2013 and as the Minister of Senior Citizens, Women and Youth from 2005 to 2009. Von der Leyen has been tipped as a possible future successor to Chancellor Angela Merkel due to personal loyalty to the Chancellor and her 'political instinct'.

Early life

Ursula von der Leyen was born in Brussels. She is the daughter of Ernst Albrecht, a prominent CDU politician and former European Commission official, as well as a long-time Prime Minister of Lower Saxony. Her brother is businessman Hans-Holger Albrecht.

She was born in Ixelles in Brussels, where her father worked for the European Commission (as a Director-General from 1969). She attended the European School until 1971, when the family relocated to Lehrte in Hanover after her father had become CEO of Bahlsen and involved in state politics in Lower Saxony.

von der Leyen most commonly refers to Ursula von der Leyen, German minister of defence. It may also mean:

von der Leyen is a German noble family of silk merchants and industrialists, who built a major textile business in Krefeld in the 18th century and were raised to Baronial rank by Napoleon. In its heyday, the family delivered silk to most of the European high aristocracy. The family is not related to the princely House of Leyen.

In 1656 the family was forcibly expulsed from Radevormwald due to their Mennonite beliefs, and sought refuge in the free city of Krefeld. In Krefeld, Adolf von der Leyen continued the family's silk business. In 1720, Peter von der Leyen founded a factory producing sewing silk, and in 1724, brothers Johann, Friedrich and Heinrich founded a silk dyeing factory. By 1763, half of Krefeld's population of 6082 worked for the von der Leyen family. In 1760, the family founded the Von der Leyensche Stiftung (foundation) to support local Mennonites.

In 1772, the family bought the Kiekhorst Manor, where they built a castle, Schloss Leyenburg. In 1794, Conrad von der Leyen built another residence, that became known as the City Palace (Stadtschloss) and that currently serves as town hall. In 1803, Friedrich Heinrich von Friedrich von der Leyen bought Schloss Bloemersheim near Neukirchen-Vluyn, which is still owned by the family, and the following year, he bought Meer Manor in Meerbusch. In 1804, Napoleon visited Krefeld and lived in the von der Leyen home.