Tattoo for Merkel: We will still miss her

Chancellor Merkel’s 16-year term of office will come to an end next week. In the evening, the Bundeswehr says goodbye to her with a big tattoo. We will still miss her.

Two weeks longer in office – and Angela Merkel would have broken Helmut Kohl’s record as Chancellor with the longest term in office. She just missed it. But unlike Kohl and Adenauer, the citizens of Merkel’s last year in office did not have this leaden feeling that it was high time she left. On the popularity scale of German politicians, she is clearly number one – not a matter of course after 16 years in office.

Nevertheless, democracy lives from change. And yes, during Merkel’s term in office, some things that the traffic light is now trying to tackle as a “progressive coalition” have been left behind: digitization and climate protection are just two examples where Germany urgently needs more speed. Nevertheless, we can be grateful that Angela Merkel has safely led our country through stormy times over the past 16 years: with a steady hand, a high level of expertise and a tremendous amount of work.

“German Mutti” and “Compromise Machine”

Will it be mentioned in future history books in a row with Kohl, Brandt and Adenauer? Yes. And not just because she was the first woman in this position and came from the GDR. Seldom has a Chancellor had to deal with so many crises: the financial and banking crisis, the euro crisis, the war in the Ukraine, Brexit, the refugee crisis and the corona pandemic. Shocks that led to economic upheavals and the rise of populists in other democracies. Merkel’s crisis management has helped Germany to remain economically strong and politically stable. Thanks to solid finances, the consequences of the corona pandemic were cushioned.

Many countries envied us for the “German Mutti” in the Chancellery. It is also thanks to Merkel that Germany is held in high regard in the world today. It was the alternative to populist machos like Trump, Putin or Erdogan. Flaming speeches and charismatic visions were not her thing. For this she was considered a gifted mediator on the international stage. Small countries could also rely on Merkel’s word. Luxembourg’s Prime Minister called it a “compromise machine”. Even with difficult rivals like Putin or China’s head of state and party, she did not let the thread of the conversation break.

Indecent and not a single scandal

Merkel’s weaknesses are known: she has seldom communicated as well and courageously as at the beginning of the Corona crisis. Because she considered some decisions to be “without alternative”, the culture of debate not only withered in her party. And yet: she stayed in office for 16 years – to the end unpretentious and without a single scandal. That too is rare in politics. The Federal Republic was mostly lucky with its chancellors. This assessment is particularly true of Angela Merkel.