In these days of approaching departure from power, the Chancellor gives the impression that she is at peace with herself.
Sometimes she even expresses it explicitly.
Merkel is at the end of what she herself described as a risk when she announced in autumn 2018 that she would not run again in the federal elections this September.
If their Christian Democratic predecessors Adenauer and Kohl did not want to or could not leave power and the CDU Chancellors Erhard and Kiesinger only had three years in office, Merkel said goodbye for three long years.
Longings were directed towards Merkel
The fact that the venture did not turn into a catastrophe, that she did not become the proverbial lame duck, is not only thanks to her performance for the first woman to head a federal government. Merkel was very lucky. In the Union ranks, the search for the successor candidate (the candidate had not lasted long) became so uneven that many voters concentrated their longings on Merkel and deliberately ignored the fact that she is no longer available. Earlier competition like the SPD is sinking into the polls, and the Greens' hope was even shorter than Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in the CDU.
In this respect, the Chancellor was able to give the impression of being at peace with herself on Thursday at the last of her annual summer appearances before the federal press conference.
Regarding many challenges - above all climate policy - she said that there were still major tasks to be mastered.
But in this area, similar to when looking at the corona pandemic, Merkel made it clear that the federal government and thus in the first place of course she herself had achieved a lot.
For those who still had critical questions, she added that the major challenges could not be solved nationally, but that Germany was part of a “world whole”.
The risk seems to work out reasonably well for Merkel.