Angela Merkel Begins Fourth Term as German Chancellor

Vote bookends the country’s longest and most complicated coalition-building exercise in post-War history

BERLIN—Angela Merkel on Wednesday finally began her fourth, and likely final, term as German chancellor.

Lawmakers voted to formally re-elect Ms. Merkel, bookending the country’s longest and most complicated coalition-building exercise in post-War history, nearly six months after a general election that delivered a fractured parliament and no obvious ruling majority.

The...