Visit to Vienna

Angela Merkel came, read and was celebrated

Angela Merkel also visited Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen as part of her Vienna reading.

(Bild: Präsidentschaftskanzlei/Peter LECHNER)

Angela Merkel visited the Austrian capital on Monday evening. The former chancellor promoted her memoirs in Vienna and defended her Ukraine and refugee policies without self-criticism. She received a lot of applause for this.

What does a former German Chancellor do on the first day after Friedrich Merz wins the election for Chancellor and the AfD comes second? She goes into exile in Austria. There she is cheered and celebrated. First with a flying visit with coffee (and Gugelhupf?) in the Hofburg with Alexander Van der Bellen, who can also enjoy a relaxed visitor who wants nothing from him.

ÖVP celebrities at a reading
In the evening, she then gave a reading of her autobiography "Freiheit" (Freedom) in the not-so-large Mozart Hall of the Vienna Konzerthaus, where the happy visitors would have liked to start the standing ovation before it even began. A few old friends and those who would have been, also came: for example, long-time Salzburg Festival visitor Martin Bartenstein and his eternal president Helga Rabl-Stadler, Wolfgang Schüssel, Ursula Plassnik and Willi Molterer.

Angela Merkel at her book signing in the Thalia branch on Mariahilfer Straße

(Bild: Christoph Engelmaier )

Otherwise, not quite as many presumed ÖVP voters came. They are more urban Merkel fans, the German traffic light coalition would certainly not be a problem here.

Difficult relationship with successor Merz
The exile is only meant seriously to a limited extent. Merkel emphasized right at the beginning that she was pleased about the election victory of "her" CDU and had already congratulated the election winner. The media had previously reported that she had omitted this.

Her difficult relationship with her successor and former parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz makes such details interesting, but they no longer played a role that evening. Merkel preferred to start with a controversial topic, defending her Russia policy and the difficult Minsk Agreement, describing the necessities of dealing with Vladimir Putin.

Merkel and Putin's dog
She did not leave out the episode with the dog. The Russian president had it with him, knowing that Merkel was once bitten and is anxious. He recently said that he didn't know that. Then she just wondered why he had given her a stuffed dog and said it wouldn't bite.

Angela Merkel and Putin's dog "Koni" in 2007. The Chancellor was less than enthusiastic about the animal encounter.

(Bild: DMITRY ASTAKHOV / ITAR-TASS / AFP)

Speaking of male super egos: her memory of the legendary let's-just-leave-the-church-in-the-village meeting with SPD Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. He had lost the election much more narrowly than expected and did not want to accept the defeat. Merkel humorously described how much she struggled to keep her composure.

The next super-macho was more serious: Donald Trump seemed to distrust her and Germany in particular, unfortunately seeing the world from the perspective of a real estate entrepreneur: only one person can win a deal, cooperation never leads to the goal.

Angela Merkel and Donald Trump - not best friends

(Bild: JESCO DENZEL)

No self-criticism on the migration issue
There was not a word of self-criticism in her late summer 2015 decision with Austria's Werner Faymann to open the borders for the thousands of refugees marching from Budapest. On the contrary: she was later annoyed when a journalist asked her whether she had increased the flow of refugees with her open stance, she said.

She had gone into politics for people instead of anonymous "streams". At this point, the Vienna Mozart Hall clapped enthusiastically. At the end, there was no stopping the applause. It seemed almost too much for Merkel, who immediately left the stage with her dozen bodyguards.