^ In early December, millions sat in front of their TV screens watching the farewell ceremony in her honour. The ceremony featured an army parade, soldiers marching with torches, and the Bundeswehr band playing some curious
East German punk rock.
Some of her admirers reported feeling a sense of gloom as they watched. This is because of what the outgoing chancellor represented for them: continuity, stability and a sense of security. Merkel was the person who, in their eyes, had managed to keep a lid on many of Germany’s social and political tensions.
Still, very few Germans – including her fans – would argue that Merkel
leaves the country in good shape. There are complaints about large investment backlogs, neglected public infrastructure and the unresolved challenges of her green-energy transition. She also left her own party, the CDU, in tatters. It suffered a crushing electoral loss back in September under chancellor-candidate Armin Laschet. Merkel’s crowning achievement seems to be that she managed to stay in power for so long.
This ability to stay in power was not down to her political survival instincts alone. Merkel was propped up by a beleaguered middle class that needed her to fend off the malcontents, the protesters, the anti-liberals and the populists. Particularly after the euro crisis, the refugee crisis and the rise of the right-wing
AfD, she managed to rally the forces of the establishment behind her. Anyone who criticised Merkel was accused of ‘populism’. Even those who had been sceptical about her at the beginning of her career fell increasingly silent.
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