Freedom, Merkel’s memoirs for publication late November

Admin I Monday, May 13, 2024

 

GERMANY – Former German chancellor Angela Merkel’s memoirs, titled “Freedom. Memories 1954 – 2021,” are to be published in late November, three years after the end of her 16-year tenure, her publisher announced on Monday.

Merkel, who led the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), weathered a number of crises during her time in office, including Europe’s high influx of migrants in 2015 and the Covid-19 pandemic.

The former chancellor co-wrote the book with her long-time political advisor, Beate Baumann.

According to publisher Kiepenheuer & Witsch, the book will look back on Merkel’s life in two German states – 35 years in communist East Germany and 35 years in reunified Germany.

In a press release, Merkel, who was born in Hamburg in 1954 but moved to the former East Germany with her family shortly afterwards, explained that the question of freedom, on a political and personal level, has preoccupied her all her life.

“Without democracy there is no freedom, no constitutional state, no protection of human rights,” she said.

On a personal level, she added, freedom means “not stopping learning, not having to stand still, but being able to go further, even after leaving politics.”

The book will appear worldwide in over 30 countries, the publisher announced.

Merkel was at the helm of Europe’s biggest economy for 16 years between 2005 and 2021. She was also Germany’s first female chancellor.