Quotes of the Day

During a swimming class, when Angela Merkel was about 12, she stood at the end of the diving board for around 45 minutes before summoning up enough courage to jump in the pool. "I am courageous at the right moment," she told a journalist a few years ago. "But I need considerable start-up time, and I try to think ahead as much as possible. I am not spontaneously courageous." At school, none of her classmates or teachers ever saw her as leadership material. But now Merkel, once derided as dull and mousy, stands a good chance of becoming Germany's first female Chancellor. Is she ready to take the plunge?

The most striking thing about Merkel's life story is how unglamorous it is. As a pastor's daughter in an atheist state, she was expected by her parents to do better than her peers. She responded by becoming an exceptional student. Waiting for the bus to school, she studied Russian, a language in which she is still fluent. She was extremely ambitious but not a nerd; she let friends copy her homework. She learned early on that it was risky to stick your neck out in the communist system, so she kept her opinions to herself. Her parents rewarded her diligence and obedience by allowing her to join the communist youth organization, the Young Pioneers, a privilege rarely open to most pastors' daughters. Although personally critical of communism, Merkel never openly clashed with the government. Even at university, where she studied physics, there was no hint of spontaneous courage in this shy but fun-loving young woman. "She never said anything on her own," recalls one of her former physics professors.

Merkel's political career emerged out of nowhere. In 1989, when she was 35, Merkel decided to join the east German opposition movement. This was just before the collapse of the GDR, when joining the opposition was no longer dangerous. A year later, she joined the Christian Democratic Union, the largest opposition party in Germany, and was quickly appointed Federal Minister for Women and Youth. Nine years after that, she was party leader. Because her rise was so fast, and her roots so obscure, Merkel remains something of an enigma. But she shares an important characteristic with Gerhard Schröder and her erstwhile mentor, former CDU Chancellor Helmut Kohl: the absolute will to power. She's proved her toughness by publicly turning against Kohl when he became mired in a party-financing scandal and by systematically eliminating her rivals within the CDU. She still wants to be top of the class, and has shown she's an exceptional student of politics, too.

Merkel is tough and adept at seizing opportunities when they present themselves — and Schröder has just presented her with the opportunity of a lifetime. Though she's often criticized as timid and uninspiring, Merkel has already claimed more than her fair share of scalps. She's evolved from a mousy former physicist into a formidable political panther who carefully plans and ruthlessly executes her strikes. Gerhard Schröder better watch out.

• GERD LANGGUTH
• Viewpoint: Angela Merkel won't be easy to beat, says Gerd Langguth