The '''Christian Democratic Union of Germany''' (Christlich-Demokratische Union Deutschlands, '''CDU''') is a political party in [[Germany]]. It is a middle-conservative party, and in 2009-2013 shared power in a coalition with the liberal libertarian [[Free Democratic Party]] (FDP). [[File:Merkel.jpg|thumb|290px| Chancellor [[Angela Merkel]] leads the party]] The CDU is always in partnership with the '''[[Christian Social Union of Bavaria|Christian Social Union]]''', its more conservative sister party in [[Bavaria]]. When adding the mandates of both the CDU and CSU, who caucus together at the national level, they form the largest parliamentary group at the national level. Both parties are also in control of a majority of governments at the state level, with 11 out of 16 heads of state governments hailing from one of them. | The '''Christian Democratic Union of Germany''' (Christlich-Demokratische Union Deutschlands, '''CDU''') is a political party in [[Germany]]. It is a middle-conservative party, and in 2009-2013 shared power in a coalition with the liberal libertarian [[Free Democratic Party]] (FDP). [[File:Merkel.jpg|thumb|290px| Chancellor [[Angela Merkel]] leads the party]] The CDU is always in partnership with the '''[[Christian Social Union of Bavaria|Christian Social Union]]''', its more conservative sister party in [[Bavaria]]. When adding the mandates of both the CDU and CSU, who caucus together at the national level, they form the largest parliamentary group at the national level. Both parties are also in control of a majority of governments at the state level, with 11 out of 16 heads of state governments hailing from one of them. |