Angela Merkel, Germany’s first female chancellor (2005–2021) and leader of the centre-right political party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) (2000–2018), has penned a collection of her memories, Freedom: Memoirs 1954–2021. Merkel’s personal assistant, Beate Baumann, is the co-author.

Originally written in German and later translated into English, the book was published last month. In it, Merkel equates the word “freedom” with Western democracy: the advent of Western democracy in Germany heralded freedom for the Germans. This is the central theme of the book, which is particularly intriguing because her rise to the office of Chancellor in 2005 is attributed to her right-wing rhetoric, which helped her oust the centre-left party of then-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). During her election campaign, Merkel raised right-wing slogans such as “Conserve German competitiveness” (Deutsche Wettbewerbsfähigkeit) by limiting the influx of non-Germans into Germany. In doing so, she criticised Schröder’s policy of opening Germany to the outside world.

After assuming power, Merkel adopted a more moderate stance. This about-turn frustrated her right-wing supporters. In October 2010, while addressing the youth wing of her party in Brandenburg State at Potsdam, she unequivocally declared that the idea of multiculturalism in Germany had failed (Multi-kulti ist gescheitert), leaving no room for any culture other than German culture to flourish in Germany. Instead of promoting the benefits of Western democracy facilitating multiculturalism, she tailored her message to suit her audience. Nevertheless, her statements did not satisfy the youth wing. Consequently, in April 2013, thousands of them renounced their allegiance to Merkel’s party and founded the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a far-right political party, to revive the vision of right-wing conservatism that had helped Merkel secure her electoral victory and ascend to the chancellorship.

In her memoir, Merkel expresses disdain for East Germany while extolling West Germany. She claims, for instance, that she was born in Hamburg, West Germany, and that her parents relocated (without her consent) to Brandenburg, East Germany, where she pursued her education and earned a PhD in Physics from the University of Leipzig. Readers may be surprised to learn that her father, a pastor, held leftist political leanings yet chose to move to East Germany, where the right-wing held sway. These claims seem aimed at portraying her as a reluctant resident of East Germany. Ironically, despite benefiting from East Germany’s educational opportunities, Merkel expresses no gratitude towards it. Nowhere in her memoir does she highlight any positives of East Germany, suggesting that her narrative is crafted to appease prospective left-leaning readers. Her antipathy towards East Germany is a recurring theme throughout her extensive recollections. This sentiment ignores historical nuances, such as the Potsdam Conference of August 1945, where the Allies and Soviets agreed to divide Germany. East Germany did not independently decide to join the Soviet bloc in 1949; rather, it was a consequence of the Cold War.

Merkel was 35 when the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989. The fall of the wall enabled her to move to West Germany and begin her political career, fulfilling her long-standing admiration for the West. However, two interesting contradictions emerge. First, after German reunification (1989–1990), despite her father’s leftist inclinations and her stated yearning for freedom in West Germany, Merkel joined the centre-right CDU, which was allied with the Christian Social Union (CSU), another centre-right conservative party. Second, despite her affinity for West Germany, she chose to represent Constituency 15 in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a state in northeast East Germany. Merkel remained the representative for this constituency until 2021. By her own narrative, one might expect her to have joined a centre-left party, such as the SPD, and represented a constituency in West Germany.

In the chapter discussing American politics (Donald Trump), Merkel expresses hope for Kamala Harris’s success, representing the Democratic Party, as the book went to press before the United States presidential election. To promote the English-language edition of her memoir in the US, Merkel met former US President Barack Obama at the Anthem Theatre in Washington, DC, on 2 December.

As German Chancellor, Merkel served the interests of the CDU-CSU alliance for four terms (2005–2021) by opposing multiculturalism in Germany. She condemned Schröder for introducing foreigners (Ausländer)—including workers, PhD students, and researchers, most of whom were non-white—whom she accused of undermining German competitiveness. Pursuing a protectionist policy, Merkel harmed the careers of countless foreigners in her quest for political power. Yet, in her memoir, she offers warm support to the US Democratic Party, which champions multiculturalism and welcomes foreign workers, PhD students, and researchers, irrespective of race, to enhance the competitiveness of American society and systems. Interestingly, both Harris and Obama, non-white advocates of multiculturalism, oppose protectionism. While Merkel resisted non-white foreigners, particularly English-speaking ones, in Germany, she sought the support of English-speaking non-white Americans to promote her book abroad. She acknowledges that publishing her memoir solely in German would have limited its reach, necessitating its translation into English to connect with a broader audience.

In summary, the memoir reveals that Merkel’s political expediency was confined to Germany alone.

Dr Qaisar Rashid
The writer is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at qaisarrashid@yahoo.com