Berlin. The bright blue blazer, the black trousers, the familiar hairstyle. “The fact is, there she is,” says a woman in a denim jacket as she takes the first look at Angela Merkel’s portrait of Chancellor in Berlin’s Bode Museum. The painting by artist Jérémie Queyras is attracting such a surprising number of people to the museum that it will be shown there for three months longer than originally planned, until January 3rd. This afternoon Merkel wants to sign postcards with her portrait motif there.
Around five years after leaving office, the former Chancellor seems to be. D. suddenly being heard and seen everywhere again. In February she came to the CDU party conference for the first time and was celebrated. Then the (quickly denied) rumor that she could become Federal President. Or Ukraine mediator. Merkel at the digital fair, Merkel with young people, Merkel on TikTok. And of course: Merkel on a reading tour. According to her publisher, her 736-page autobiography “Freedom” has sold more than a million copies worldwide. Hundreds still flock to her readings and book signings. Why?
“Angela Merkel always impressed me very much with her calmness, how she had these men, Putin and so on, under control in a completely calm manner,” says Marlen Hannemann, who was sitting in the audience at Merkel's reading in the Peenemünde Historical-Technical Museum on a September evening. “And the way she led our country in a very relaxed manner - seen from the outside - gave me a lot of security as a person in this country.” When it came to Merkel, she always thought: “She will know how to decide.”
A few rows ahead, Annett Lührmann sits next to her husband, and she sounds very similar. “I am still impressed by Ms Merkel, what she has achieved and how her life has turned out,” she says. Everyone in office makes mistakes, that's for sure. But “she has mastered things, Corona and the wave of refugees, someone has to do it differently and better first.” She is looking forward to seeing the former Chancellor live for the first time.
And then Merkel is actually on stage, this time the blazer is red. The 72-year-old waves briefly to the audience and is already sitting at her reading table. 90 minutes in this typical Merkel sound that has been familiar for 16 years. From childhood in Templin to the Chancellery, from “We can do it” to the AfD, from the Russian annexation of Crimea to Corona. Perhaps the loudest applause came when Merkel called for commitment to democracy. And when she swears in her successors: “Moderation and center, that is the basis and prerequisite for the success of democratic parties.”
Such advice is hard to swallow for her successor Friedrich Merz. The CDU leader consciously wanted a different course; he promised a lot of change and change. But after just over a year in office, his approval ratings are historically low. According to the ARD “Germany Trend”, 9 out of 10 respondents are somewhat or very dissatisfied with Merz. The AfD has long since overtaken the CDU in nationwide polls. The CDU leader is fighting for his authority, he is arguing and arguing with his coalition partner, the SPD.
“If you now ask about the comparison, a majority says that Merz does not govern better than his predecessor Olaf Scholz, whom he always criticized,” says Peter Matuschek, managing director of the Forsa survey institute. "When it comes to Merkel, the verdict is even clearer. There may of course be a bit of nostalgia involved. But Merkel also had very, very high approval ratings during her active time."
Merz's claim of “pure CDU”, of a return to a more prominent, conservative line, was a fundamental error, says Matuschek. "At the voter level, this completely backfired. Even in her last election, Merkel still had a result of almost 33 percent." With Merz, the CDU/CSU still achieved 28.6 percent in February 2025. In surveys, the Union is currently at 18 to 20 percent.
Times are different, wars are raging in Ukraine and the Middle East, the majorities in Berlin are much narrower than in Merkel's time, and the mood is more heated. But some in the CDU/CSU are also watching the Merkel nostalgia with interest. If you ask around in the CDU, they say that this probably also has to do with the style of the former Chancellor. Unlike Scholz or Merz, her demeanor still appears to many to be credibly modest, down-to-earth and unpretentious.
The Union said that the world seemed clearer and more organized during her time in power. As Chancellor, Merkel gave the impression that the crises at the time could be controlled - which, if at all, was only partially true. Many younger people who grew up with Merkel as Chancellor apparently longed for this security. And their unifying, non-polemic political style.
Political scientist Karl-Rudolf Korte also views Merkel this way. “In times of our democratic democracy, it is good to witness Merkel's refusal to indignation,” says the emeritus professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen. “Presidential affability - non-partisan, provocatively apathetic - is unusual for the Berlin republic of busybodies.” Merkel does not speak technocratic language, especially after leaving office. “Everyone understands them,” says Korte.
But would anyone really want Merkel back as chancellor instead of Merz? At least, even under today's conditions, many people have a lot of confidence in her. In a YouGov survey commissioned by the German Press Agency, 48 percent of the 2,000 respondents said that Merkel would be better suited than Merz to solve today's problems and challenges in Germany. 29 percent think Merkel would be just as good or bad as Merz. Only eight percent saw Merkel as less suitable than Merz.
