Merkel's secrets: From the Bardame to Chancellor - insights from her memoirs

Merkel's secrets: From the Bardame to Chancellor - insights from her memoirs

In the approximately 740 pages of her memoirs, former Chancellor Angela Merkel reveals exciting details from her life that make people visible behind the politician. From their time as a bardame to their culinary preferences - the memories are as diverse as surprising!

Merkel himself describes itself as a bardame when she talks about her studies in Leipzig. There she organized Discos with her seminar group and sold drinks. "That made me a lot of fun and brought some additional money," she recalls. But not only that: In the 1980s, she even occupied an empty apartment in Berlin after she separated from her first husband. "I slept on wooden pallets that I put on a mattress. The level of living was extremely modest, but I felt comfortable," she reports about this time.

insights into private life

Merkel's second husband, Joachim Sauer, plays a central role in her life. "We both loved and love nature and traveling," she says, explaining that her wedding in 1998 was also politically motivated. "I didn't want to give an impression that I married for career reasons." The roles are clearly distributed in their household: while Merkel rules the kitchen, the laundry takes care of the laundry. "It was so that I usually cook," she reveals.

The culinary preferences of the former chancellor are also remarkable. On her first day as a chancellor there were sausages and potato salad, and the menu remained the same when she said goodbye to the Chancellery on December 2, 2021. "A circle closed," she reflects. Merkel also loves soups that give her strength after exhausting days. "It was wonderful to eat a chicken, potato or lentil soup," she recalls.

Another highlight of your memoirs is the experience with bear meat during a visit to Russia. "I decided on the adventure," she says, describing the taste as "very good, strong and like wild". Her school days also come alive when she reports about her simple breakfast with a stull and tea. "There was dinner at the eighteen o'clock, mostly stulling," she recalls the modest beginnings.