Angela Merkel, die deutsche Kanzlerin, verkörpert diese neue Stärke des alten europäischen Problemkindes in der Mitte des Kontinents, bewundert von den Einen und gehasst von den Anderen.
Befittingly, his fall came at the high point of German carnival: while Catholics in Germany’s West and South celebrated, East German Protestants in Berlin consolidated their hold on power. Germany will have a Protestant pastor as its head of state, in addition to being governed by a Protestant pastor’s daughter.