Angela Merkel, German Chancellor bows out after 16 years

First German female chancellor, Angela Merkel, after 16 years at the helms of affairs, is set to leave office and has been assured of a place in the history books as she becomes Germany’s first female chancellor in the country’s history.

Merkel, who assumed office on November 22, 2005, will officially stand down on Wednesday, December 8, after steering Germany to become one of the world’s superpowers.

She will hand over to her designated successor, Olaf Scholz, who is expected to take office on Wednesday.

Merkel has been credited with raising Germany’s profile and influence, working to hold a fractious European Union together, managing a string of crises, and being a role model for women, according to a citation on the German government’s official website.

Merkel, a former scientist who grew up in Communist East Germany, is bowing out about a week short of the record for longevity held by her onetime mentor, former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who reunited Germany during his 1982-1998 tenure.

During her tenure, Merkel served and outlived four U.S. presidents, four French presidents, five British prime ministers and eight Italian premiers.

However, her chancellorship was marked by four major challenges, the global financial crisis, Europe’s debt crisis, the arrival of vast numbers of refugees in Europe in 2015-16 and the COVID-19 pandemic.