Angela Merkel: One Year in Office
Day One
Angela Merkel, the preacher's daughter from East Germany, was sworn in as her country's first female chancellor on Nov. 22, 2005.
Bonjour, Monsieur Chirac!
Merkel's first foreign destination as chancellor was the City of Love on the River Seine, where she met with French President Jacques Chirac.
Ms Chancellor
In December 2005, the German word for a female chancellor, <i>Bundeskanzlerin</i>, was dubbed "word of the year" by the Society for the German Language. As Angie was the first, the URL was free.
All in Black
No, Merkel was not on her way to a funeral. She was off to meet President George W. Bush at the White House during her first official visit to Washington, in January 2006. Analysts were enthusiastic to see US-German relations thaw after a post-World War II low under the previous chancellor, Gerhard Schröder.
Planting Peace
Only two months into her term, the freshly inaugurated Chancellor Merkel paid a visit to the Middle East. There she met with Israeli and Palestinian officials to discuss peace and Iran's nuclear plans. She also planted this olive tree at the Grove of the Nations, part of the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, on Jan. 30, 2006.
See Angie at Cebit
On March 3, 2006, Merkel opened the CeBit computer fair in Hanover, where the world's most cutting-edge technology was on display. With her own Web site and vodcasts, the chancellor is rather tech-savvy herself.
Ewwww!
That's what budget debates will do to you.
Germans in Siberia
In April, the chancellor spent two days in Tomsk in eastern Russia with President Vladimir Putin and the Russian-Germans who live there. There is speculation that Merkel may have joined in the folk dancing just after the photo was taken, but this is only speculation.
Cheers to Copyright Protection
In May, Merkel sipped champagne with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, in Beijing, and talked about the possibility of weapons of mass destruction in Iran and the violation of copyright law in China.
Go Germany!
Angie proved to be quite the soccer fan during this summer's World Cup in Germany. After exciting plays, the TV cameras would cut to the chancellor to catch her professionally restrained jubilation.
A Great G8
Hey, Vladimir, got any tips for throwing a diplomatic conference? Merkel was in St. Petersburg in July for the G8 conference, where the Lebanon crisis and the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea dominated the agenda. She'll have to play hostess for the event next year when Germany assumes the G8 presidency.
Divine Encounter
Papst Benedict XVI visited his Bavarian homeland in September and had a word with the chancellor.
Angel-a
Talking with the pope may have had a divine influence on the chancellor.
Royal Rendezvous
Queen Beatrix of Holland gave a royal welcome to Angela. They must have left their gowns and glass slippers in the other room.
Prohibited Polish Profile
A dispute over a planned center on expellees. Outrage over a Russo-German Baltic Sea gas pipeline project. Irreverent remarks about the Polish president in a German newspaper. A row over a German cruise ship that fled Polish customs officials... Merkel and Polish Premier Jaroslaw Kaczynski came with loaded guns to their October 2006 visit in Berlin after several months of Polish-German squabbles. Kaczynski has since banned journalists from photographing his profile, possibly due to his multiple chins. Merkel has not yet made such a move.