Chancellor Friedrich Merz 's Christian Democrats (CDU) on Monday confirmed that they would be putting forward Ilse Aigner as a candidate to be Germany 's next head of state.

Aigner's own CSU , the CDU's Bavarian sister party, already supports her candidacy — and the federal coalition partners the Social Democrats have also made clear they would endorse her nomination if the conservatives agree on it.

This means the 61-year-old has a good chance of taking up the largely ceremonial role when the special committee that elects a German president convenes in late January.

While Angela Merkel famously served as the country's most powerful politician for more than a decade, Germany has never had a female head of state.

Could Ilse Aigner become Germany's first female head of state?

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What did Merz say about the nomination in Berlin?

Chancellor Merz announced the decision alongside Aigner at a Berlin…