2. Her story
Born: Hamburg, 17 July 1954, daughter of
Horst and Herlind Kasner. One
brother, one sister.
Early life: Grew up in Templin, 50 miles
north of Berlin, before studying physics at
the University of Leipzig.
Career: Researcher at the Central
Institute of Physical Chemistry. Entered
the Bundestag in 1990. Under former
Chancellor Helmut Kohl, was Minister for
Women and Youth in 1994. Later became
Environment Minister. Secretary-General
of her party in 1998; beat Gerhard
Schröder to become Chancellor in 2005.
3. She wasn’t a single out person at school
Merkel has come a very long way from the house of Lutheran pastor Horst Kasner
and his wife Herlind. Nothing in her childhood hinted at the career she would
eventually follow. She was very good at studying Russian and mathematics
“Create yourself” – is her motto
she followed a conventional path from provincial school, to university in
Leipzig, to a branch of the East German Academy of Sciences in Berlin.
Be in the right place at the right time
she abandoned an academic career as a physicist in favour of politics. Since she
made that decision at the age of 35 – 1989 was in every way her lucky year –
she has uncannily tended to be in the right place at the right time.
9. "the most dangerous German
leader since Hitler"
“nobody made a serious attempt to do
something, knowing that this would immediately
meet with a German veto”
“She is no dictator, but she can dictate terms. And
that is why so many people are mad at her.”
10. Reality
Germany needs Europe
far less than Europe
needs Germany, and
Merkel certainly can do
without her daily
vilification.
11. Germany is doing better than the
rest of Europe because it doesn't
behave like the rest of Europe and
because, increasingly, it is looking
beyond Europe. – and it is because
of her policy
12. Her position is:
To use Germany's wealth to prop up a
system?! Her answer is convincing german
“Nein!”
13. She saves interests of her country and is seen as:
Public the world's
Enemy No. 1 potential savior
14. Neither extreme is
true, but this small,
soft-spoken woman
is the most
significant player in
the crisis.
15. A rather pedestrian in the past, created
herself, now she is the woman who can save
the world with a snap of her fingers
