German voters go to the polls on September 24 and Angela Merkel is hoping to win a mandate for a fourth term as chancellor. By now everybody knows that the 63-year-old leader grew up in East Germany, trained as a scientist and opened the country’s doors to a large number of migrants in 2015.
But here are five things you might not yet know about Ms. Merkel:
Sleepless in Berlin
Ms. Merkel is well known for her ability to stay alert during important late-night negotiations. That’s a big advantage when world leaders have to grapple with complex topics like climate change, state bailouts or peace talks in the early hours of the morning. Merkel says she needs her sleep just like everyone else but that she has the ability to survive on very little for a short while. “I’ve got certain camel-like abilities,” she once told the German women’s magazine Brigitte.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, centre, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, second right, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, right, and French President Francois Hollande, unseen, during their talks at a summit with the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and France at the chancellery in Berlin on October 19, 2016. | Photo Credit: AP
Not the best Communist student
Like all East German students, Ms. Merkel had to take compulsory courses in Marxism-Leninism. But unlike her studies in physics, which she completed “magna cum laude”, her efforts in communist ideology rated merely “sufficient”. Later, while working at the Academy of Sciences in East Berlin, the future chancellor was in the communist youth organization and held the title “Secretary for Agitation and Propaganda”, according to biographers Guenther Lachmann und Ralf Georg Reuth. Ms. Merkel has never denied this, but said her task mainly involved organising book readings and visits to the theatre.
German chancellor Angela Merkel speaks on September 5, 2017 during the last official session of the German parliament in Berlin before the September 24, 2017 elections. | Photo Credit: AP
Green thumb, no frills
The chancellor isn’t known for leading an opulent life. In fact, she lives in an ordinary apartment in the centre of Berlin, owns a small country house in the Uckermark region north of the capital and grows her own vegetables.
Big time soccer fan
Every German leader is required to cheer the national soccer team it’s the country’s favourite sport, after all and Ms. Merkel is no exception. Yet the chancellor takes her role as cheerleader more seriously than most politicians. Whenever she can, she’ll pop into the dressing room to wish the German players good luck.
The right chemist(ry)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her husband Joachim Sauer prepare to vote in the German general election at a polling station in Berlin on September 22, 2013. | Photo Credit: Reuters
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her husband Joachim Sauer prepare to vote in the German general election at a polling station in Berlin on September 22, 2013. | Photo Credit: Reuters
Ms. Merkel’s second husband, quantum chemist Joachim Sauer, has largely shunned the limelight. In the early days of her chancellorship, he only appeared at Ms. Merkel’s side during her annual pilgrimage to the Bayreuth opera festival, prompting one magazine to dub him the “Phantom of the Opera”. Nothing is known about his politics. But Ms. Merkel once told an interviewer that after one parliamentary debate Ms. Sauer noted disapprovingly that she’d been wagging her finger the whole time.