Ursula von der Leyen

von der Leyen in 2016, photo by Sergey Kohl/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: Ursula Gertrud Albrecht

Place of Birth: Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium

Date of Birth: 8 October, 1958

Ethnicity: German [including Baltic German], one eighth British Isles [English, Scottish, Irish], as well as distant French, Italian, Swiss-French, and Swiss-German

Ursula von der Leyen is a German politician and physician. She has been President of the European Commission, since 1 December, 2019. In Germany, she has been Minister of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, from 22 November, 2005 to 30 November, 2009; Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, from 30 November, 2009 to 17 December, 2013; Minister of Defence, from 17 December, 2013 to 17 July, 2019; and Deputy Leader of the Christian Democratic Union, from 15 November, 2010 to 22 November, 2019, among other duties.

Her parents were German. She was born in Brussels, where she lived until she was thirteen, before moving to Sehnde, Hanover, Germany, in 1971. Her father, Ernst Albrecht (Ernst Carl Julius Albrecht), was born in Heidelberg, Republic of Baden, Weimar Republic. He was one of the first European civil servants, from the establishment of the European Commission in 1958, first as the Chef de Cabinet to the European Commissioner for Competition, Hans von der Groeben, in the Hallstein Commission, and then as the Director-General of the Directorate-General for Competition, from 1967 to 1970; he was Minister President of Lower Saxony, from 1976 to 1990.

Her mother, Heidi Adele (Stromeyer), was a Germanist.

Her uncle was conductor George Alexander Albrecht.

Ursula is married to physician Heiko Echter von der Leyen, with whom she has seven children.

Ursula’s patrilineal line can be traced back to her thirteenth great-grandfather, Diederik Albrecht.

Ursula’s patenral grandfather was Carl Eduard Albrecht (the son of Friedrich Carl Albrecht and Mary Ladson Robertson). Ursula’s grandfather Carl, who was born in Bremen, Bremen, was a psychologist. He had Baltic German ancestry. Ursula’s great-grandfather Carl Albrecht was a cotton merchant, also from Bremen, Bremen, and was the son of cotton merchant George Alexander Albrecht, who was from an old patrician family, from the Electorate and Kingdom of Hanover; and of Louise/Luise Dorothea Betty “Lullu” Knoop. Ursula’s great-great-grandfather George was the son of Hanoverian lawyer and high-ranking civil servant Karl Franz Georg Albrecht. Ursula’s great-grandmother Mary was an American emigrant, from Charleston, South Carolina, and was the daughter of Edward Twells Robertson and Sara Gilmor Ladson. Among Ursula’s ancestors was politician, wealthy plantation owner, and officer of the American Revolution James Ladson.

Ursula’s paternal grandmother was Adelheid Eugenie Johanna “Adda” Berg (the daughter of Ernst Carl Julius Berg and Clara Elisabeth Krause). Ernst was the son of Carl Franz Heinrich Berg and Johanna Wilhelmine Ottilie Voss. Clara was the daughter of Julius Rudolph Krause, an engineer, and of Henriette Conradine Adelheid Ruß.

Ursula’s maternal grandfather was Gustav Julius Wilhelm Stromeyer (the son of Carl/Karl Wilhelm Gustav Stromeyer and Anna Rosa Runge). Ursula’s grandfather Gustav was born in Hanover, Lower Saxony. Ursula’s great-grandfather Gustav was a doctor, and was the son of Philipp August Adolf/Adolph Stromeyer and Therese Henriette Jacobine Schuster. Anna was born in San Antonio, Texas, United States, the daughter of German parents, Heinrich “Henry” Runge, of Bremen, Bremen, and Johanne Dorothee Juliane “Julia” Hornung, of Hildesheim, Lower Saxony.

Ursula’s matenral grandmother was named Gertrud Emma Margarethe Ohlrogge (the daughter of Richard Ohlrogge and Anna). Richard was a businessperson, who worked in the nautical sector.

Source: Genealogy of Ursula von der Leyen – https://www.geni.com