Angela Merkel signs in Potsdam: Get your book Freedom”!

Angela Merkel signs in Potsdam: Get your book Freedom”!

Friedrich Merz, the current CDU chairman, will certainly engage with Angela Merkel's thoughts to some extent when she comes to Potsdam on November 26, 2024. On this day, the former Chancellor will hold her book signing for her new book “Freedom”. The event will take place at Dortustraße 17 and starts at 4 p.m. Registration is required as the number of participants is limited. Participation is free, but if you want to secure a place, you should act quickly because the tickets are in high demand. There will be no reading; Merkel only signs her book; personal dedications or signatures on other items are not possible, as Tagesspiegel reports.

The book itself, published on November 26, 2023, features 700 pages of insights and memories. Written together with Beate Baumann, the work covers Merkel's life in two German states: the GDR and the reunified Germany. It offers fascinating flashbacks to her childhood and youth as well as defining turning points in her political career, including the 1989 reversal, which she describes as a pivotal moment in her life. Merkel also traces meetings with global leaders and the decision-making processes behind significant political events, making the book a document of her influence on German and international politics, according to Kiwi Verlag.

Impressions and memories

Although the book promises exciting stories and anecdotes, critics note that it reveals little new about Merkel or her political decisions. It reaffirms its fundamental decisions, such as the 2015 refugee crisis or the nuclear phase-out, without questioning them. An interesting detail: When she was appointed Chancellor on November 22, 2005, she felt free at that moment and suggests that she does not remember handing over the certificate of appointment, as Deutschlandfunk Kultur highlights. This leaves room for speculation about the challenges and pressures she faced.

Merkel reflects on the physical and emotional strain of her office, which was reflected in the shaking attacks in the summer of 2019 during a visit by Ukrainian President Zelensky. She sees these moments as signs of the pressure that has been on her over the years. Her childhood, shaped by her father's Protestant upbringing, is described as carefree and contrasts with the later political challenges she had to face.

It is clear that Merkel is not only the Chancellor, but also a remarkable woman with a multi-faceted history. Her view of Putin's aggressiveness and the portrayal of political colleagues, such as her relationship with Friedrich Merz, complete the picture and offer the reader a deep insight into the politician's thoughts. In the end, the question remains: How will the German public react to these reflections? The book signing could already provide the first answers.