Germany’s first female leader, Angela Merkel, a center-right Christian Democrat, has officially left office after her successor Olaf Scholz signed a coalition agreement, ending a storied 16-year tenure. Merkel, who grew up in communist East Germany, was sworn into office Nov. 22, 2005 and ruled the country through turbulent times. The former scientist has become a role model for many young German women and was just a week shy of breaking the record held by Helmut Kohl as Germany’s longest-serving leader. Merkel, 67, outlasted four U.S. presidents, four French presidents, five British prime ministers and eight Italian prime ministers including Silvio Berlusconi, who once called her an “unfuckable lard ass.” Merkel said she was leaving office at a time of great difficulty for her country, which is the epicenter of the current European pandemic wave. “We have been able to overcome many crises in a spirit of respect, in an effort always to find common solutions,” she said Monday. “But we also have a series of unresolved problems, and there are big unfinished tasks for my successor.”
