Merkel was born in Hamburg, West Germany, in 1954. When she was only weeks old, his father moved the family across the frontier to take up ecclesiastical duties in the German Democratic Republic, a decision which would come to shape Merkel’s life. Living on the outskirts of Templin, a cobblestoned town north of Berlin, the family still benefited from progress in the western world, receiving clothes, food as well as money from relatives in Hamburg from time to time.
Elites in terms of economy, the family suffered politically. Since religious organizations were considered agents of Western intelligence, her father’s work brought the whole family under constant suspicion. As an opportunist, Merkel wisely chose to adapt to the political environment. She joined the Free German Youth and remained an active member until postgraduate days. She never ran afoul of the ruling party, which enabled her to earn a bachelor in physics at Leipzig University and later a doctorate in quantum chemistry in Berlin.
Notable characteristics were cultivated and strengthened in the early years. Though clumsy in movement and indifferent about appearance, Merkel stood out as a brilliant and ferociously motivated student. She won East Germany’s Russian-language Olympiad three times to the glory of her Russian teacher. Fascinated as she was by the Russian language and the culture of the Soviet Union, she was quite critical of the regime. She led her life as a whisperer, speaking only after thinking twice. Such experience made her a sophisticated and far-sighted person. Together with her strong motivation, it would influence her political career to a large extent.
