One of the western world’s longest-serving leaders, Angela Merkel, steps down this month. What will Germany’s charismatic woman Chancellor be remembered for?
German politics in the 21st century can be divided into two phases — the pre-and post-Merkel era. Elected as Chancellor in 2005, Merkel, 67, is the first woman and the first East German to hold her nation’s highest office. She will be Germany’s second longest-serving leader of the modern era, after her former mentor, Helmut Kohl.
Angela Merkel has had books, documentaries, and scores of articles written on her — as a woman leader, a scientist, or simply as a ‘Hausfrau’ (housewife). But none have decrypted the enigma of one of Germany’s most influential Chancellors. Her contemporaries from 2005 — Britain’s Tony Blair and US President George W Bush — have long since retired from active politics. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is the only other major world leader who is still around.