First published 2004
Angela Merkel sits across from journalist Hugo Müller-Vogg, reflecting on her extraordinary transformation. Fourteen years ago, she was an obscure physicist working at East Berlin's Academy of Sciences. Now she leads the CDU party, chairs the CDU/CSU parliamentary faction, and stands poised to become Germany's first female chancellor candidate in 2006. Their conversations reveal the forces that shaped this East German woman's meteoric rise after reunification. Merkel discusses her childhood in the GDR, her relationship with mentor Helmut Kohl, and her rivalry with Roland Koch. She confronts the double burden of being both female and eastern German in a political landscape dominated by western men. The discussions turn to her vision for Germany's economic recovery, her plans to balance merit and redistribution, and her strategy to prevent generational conflict. At the heart of these exchanges lies a woman grappling with immense responsibility while remaining true to her principles and origins.
Genres: biography, 20th-century, political-science, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, fish-out-of-water
Setting: East Berlin, Germany
Period: Reunification, 2006
272 pages · Hardcover · Hoffmann und Campe