When Angela Merkel addressed her famous »You know me« to television viewers at the end of the duel with Peer Steinbrück in 2013, she hit the nerve of the nation.
The three words perfectly described what she stood for in the first eight years of government - and continues to do so today.
Reliability, constancy, familiarity.
You know me.
The Germans appreciated this promise and ticked the box again, mostly in the CDU / CSU parliamentary group, four years later as well.
And thus gave Angela Merkel access to a very exclusive group - namely that of the longest serving European heads of government for the past thirty years.
In her four cabinets, however, things did not always run as reliably, quietly and calmly as the boss would have liked.
Plagiarism affairs, refugee crises, coalition disputes - if you look at the ministers of the last 16 years in a visualization, you can clearly see who enjoyed Merkel's trust, who helped shape politics during this time - but also when the coalitions creaked.
What remains of Merkel's chancellorship in terms of content?
This question is not that easy to answer - critical voices continue to complain today that it is not really clear what Angela Merkel actually stood for.
However, a few key figures can help to at least get an idea of it:
If you look at the course of another curve, namely the satisfaction of Germans with Merkel's work, what is particularly striking is how amazingly constant it has been over these 16 years.
Despite the financial crisis, a 180-degree turnaround in nuclear policy or controversial reforms such as the introduction of the minimum wage.
One can say in a nutshell: The Germans felt comfortable with "Mutti".
If you want to draw conclusions from 16 years of Merkel and dare to predict how things could go after the general election on September 26th - you would have to guess: Without the CDU. Because Merkel also had to cope with somewhat poorer survey results during her chancellorship, only her decisive ability was to turn these trends around time and again. And that Armin Laschet has this ability at the federal level is not yet apparent - at least according to the current state of affairs.
