China News Service, September 27. With the release of the election results for the German Bundestag, the whole of Europe is waiting for the birth of the "German New Chancellor", and the "Iron Lady" Merkel, who has been in power for 16 years, will also unload the burden. The Merkel era" slowly ended.

  She is affectionately called the "Mother of Germany" by the people of her country, she is the helm of the huge European Union, and she was named the most powerful woman by Forbes... This political "evergreen tree", "crisis prime minister", The pragmatic and stable style has made a deep historical mark in German and European politics.

Data map: German Chancellor Merkel.

"The Merkel Era" will come to an end

  The whole of Europe is paying attention to the results of Germany's Bundestag election on the 26th, because it not only heralds the direction of the future government of Germany, but also marks the end of "Iron Lady" Merkel's 16 years as a prime minister.

  Although Merkel voted for Rashetra, the candidate of her party, before the vote, the result may not be what she wanted.

  The preliminary results released by the German Federal Election Commission on the 27th showed that the Social Democratic Party defeated Merkel's political party, the Coalition Party, with a 25.7% vote rate.

  The German weekly "Focus" commented that the "Merkel era" ended with a historic disaster for the Alliance Party.

  Although Merkel will also serve as prime minister of the caretaker government during the cabinet negotiations, she is expected to completely unload the prime minister in December, and she will no longer have to worry about the future of Germany and Europe like an "old mother".

  In fact, as early as October 29, 2018, Merkel, who was in the fourth prime minister's term, announced a "double retirement"-no longer seeking re-election as the chairman of the Christian Democratic League (CDU) and not seeking re-election as prime minister.

  The 67-year-old "Iron Lady" hopes to take off the burden and rest.

  Once, Merkel called herself a "sleeping camel"-she can work for a few days for a long time, sleep only a few hours, and then take a big sleep at the weekend to make up for the rest.

In 2011, she was still working at home after undergoing knee surgery; in 2014, she cancelled her three-week trip schedule after an injury caused her pelvis to break while skiing.

Data map: On January 22, 2014, Meseberg, Germany, German Chancellor Merkel held a media meeting before attending the cabinet meeting.

Merkel had to use crutches to assist in walking due to a skiing injury.

Low-key and plain female leader

  Short blond hair, plain lapel short top, iconic "Merkel-Raute"...Whether in public or private, Merkel's appearance is considered "low-key" and "unremarkable" .

  And such a calm, rigorous, and non-exposed character may be due to Merkel's early experience.

  After graduating from high school, Merkel entered the University of Leipzig to study physics with honors.

After graduating with a master's degree in 1978, she has been engaged in scientific research at the Physical Chemistry Research Center of the former East German Academy of Sciences, and later obtained a doctorate in physics.

  Perhaps it is because of her professional expertise and "science student attributes". When biographer Gold Langute visited Merkel's hometown, she found that most people thought of her as "insignificant", and even no one looked at her. Show her political leadership skills.

  In November 1989, the 35-year-old Merkel bid farewell to the laboratory and joined the Democratic Awakening Party in the former East German region and started her political career; after that, she served as the party’s spokesperson and the last government of the former GDR Deputy spokesperson.

After the reunification of Germany in October 1990, the Democratic Awakening Party merged into the CDU, and Merkel subsequently became a member of the CDU.

Data map: On August 13, 2013, Berlin, Germany, German Chancellor Merkel visited a high school and told students about the construction of the Berlin Wall.

It was the 52nd anniversary of the completion of the Berlin Wall.

Set multiple "first" records

  15 years after entering the political arena, Merkel has become Germany's first female Chancellor, the first Chancellor from eastern Germany, and the youngest Chancellor, setting multiple "firsts" records.

  Among them, it is inseparable from the help of former prime minister Cole of the "nobleman".

In 1990, as the hero of the unification of the two Germanys, Cole needed to add "East German elements" to the government.

As a result, Merkel, as a rookie in East German politics, entered Cole's sight and was successively promoted to Minister of Women and Minister of Environment.

  Later, Merkel seized the opportunity. When her peers still believed that she was not enough to pose a threat, when the retired Cole was involved in the party donation incident, she showed her resolute side and replaced him as the No. 1 CDU in one fell swoop. A female chairwoman laid the foundation for her summit to become German Chancellor in November 2005.

Data map: September 5, 2015, Munich, Germany. Thousands of immigrants arrived in Germany via Hungary and Austria. Refugees from Syria held up a photo of German Chancellor Merkel.

"Evergreen tree" in politics, "Stabilizer" in Europe

  In October 2009, December 2013, and March 2018, Merkel was re-elected three times and became the "evergreen tree" of German politics and the "stabilizer" of Europe.

  What is certain is that in the 16 years under Merkel's leadership, the German economy has been advancing steadily, its financial situation has improved, and its influence in international affairs has increased.

  In 2018, the British Financial Times published an article commenting that Germany under the leadership of Merkel "has no doubt become the de facto leader of European diplomacy."

  During her tenure, Merkel led Germany to deal with a number of major problems-the global financial crisis, the European debt crisis and the refugee crisis, as well as the new crown epidemic crisis.

  When the global financial crisis spread from the United States to Europe in 2009, the Merkel administration first stood still, and then announced a series of economic stimulus plans.

In the end, these plans made Germany the first country in the Western world to emerge from the crisis.

  Later, when the European debt crisis that started in Greece spread to southern European countries, Merkel's tough strategy against Greece and other debtor countries succeeded in timely "stop bleeding" for more euro zone countries.

Although her hard-line attitude aroused criticism, she insisted on linking the bailout to financial discipline and eventually led Europe through the "darkest moment of the euro."

What is the plan after leaving office?

  In the refugee crisis of 2015, Merkel agreed to open the door of Europe to more than 1 million refugees, which also changed her image in the eyes of the world and the Germans in just a few weeks.

In this crisis, she won praise, but it also put her into continuous tension with the ruling ally, the Socialist Party, and indirectly caused the rise of anti-immigration far-right forces in Germany.

  In the "last crisis" before leaving office that she led Germany to fight-the crisis of the new crown epidemic, Merkel once rose because of Germany's early control of the new crown death rate.

However, with the continuous extension of the anti-epidemic cycle and the rebound of the epidemic, dissatisfaction from all walks of life in Germany continues to breed.

  Observers pointed out that the rise of the extreme right will, together with the post-epidemic economic recovery and refugee policy, will become a touchstone for testing the political direction of Germany in the "post-Merkel era".

  As for Merkel's own destination, in 2019, she seems to have made a plan.

  "When I am no longer the chancellor, all universities that awarded me honorary doctorates will hear me again." When she was awarded her 17th honorary doctorate at the Leipzig Business School in Germany, Merkel had hinted After leaving office, he will return to academia.

  What would happen to Germany without Merkel?

What impact will it have for Europe?

The answer is still on the way.

(over)