Hazel Brugger interviews Angela Merkel "You don't seem like such a nerd to me now"
The former chancellor answers questions from a comedian. Angela Merkel, whose memoirs were published today, was keen to be interviewed by Hazel Brugger. Find out what the conversation was like here.
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- Angela Merkel and Hazel Brugger spent an hour talking about the former German Chancellor's memoirs.
- Merkel was in power in Germany for 16 years. In the book "Freedom - Memories 1954-2021", which was published today, she looks back on this time.
- On the 736 pages, the 70-year-old is extremely obsessed with detail, hardly reveals anything personal - and still provides one or two surprises.
- "After reading the book, I now have the feeling that I know everything about you - except who you are," says Brugger at the end of the interview. Merkel counters dryly.
Angela Merkel is annoyed that she didn't answer the media's question at the G20 summit as to whether she feels like a feminist with a very clear "yes".
In her biography "Freedom - Memories 1954-2021", the former German Chancellor writes about the inner turmoil that plagued her because of this hesitation.
In the interview, comedian Hazel Brugger credits politician Angela Merkel for forgetting the so-called "politician speak" for once in the book chapter and instead openly admitting that "it wasn't ideal the way I did it".
Merkel's biography is a women's project
Three years after her departure from the political stage, Angela Merkel has published her biography. The 70-year-old wrote the book together with her long-time companion and advisor Beate Baumann.
According to "Der Spiegel", Merkel and Baumann's book project triggered a rush of publishers. In the end, Kiepenheuer & Witsch (KiWi) won the race - a company run by a woman, Kerstin Glebe. It is said that this was the decisive factor.
It is therefore fitting that Angela Merkel is giving the first TV interview about her book to a woman: "She has written a book and wanted to talk to me (that's really true 😳) about it," writes Hazel Brugger on her Instagram account.
Angela Merkel will read in Zurich
Unlike usual, Brugger seems extremely nervous at the start of the conversation with Merkel. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that this is the "most blatant encounter" ever for the comedian, as she says later in the interview.
The lightness that Hazel Brugger usually displays in her conversations - for example with the muscle-toned women and men at a fitness fair in Munich - is almost completely absent from her.
You need to know this: The video is a production of the publishing house Kiepenheuer & Witsch, i.e. the publisher of Merkel's memoirs. It is advertising.
After Angel Merkel reveals that she is planning to go on a reading tour with her book, Hazel Brugger interjects that she would then like to host the German on stage.
"Well, I don't know if you wouldn't be bored if I spoke for 55 minutes and you only came on at the beginning and end," says Merkel dryly.
Brugger replies: "I'll do that."
Later, the former Chancellor reveals that she wants to read a different excerpt from her memoirs at every place she visits on the reading tour. In an aside, she also mentions that she plans to appear in Zurich.
Brugger to Merkel: "You are a very hard-working person"
The comedian then goes on to butter Merkel up: "You are definitely a very hard-working person and very conscientious. That comes out in the book in a not unpleasant way. You don't come across as a nerd to me now."
From the "very healthy and intrinsically motivated thirst for knowledge", the book moves seamlessly on to Merkel's colorful trouser suits.
According to Angel Merkel, these were certainly also a response to the colorless world of men. At the same time, she wanted to prevent people from only paying attention to her clothes instead of listening to her words.
Afterwards, the two women talk about the opening of the opera in Oslo, Norway, in 2008. There was only one topic for the press afterwards: the German Chancellor's cleavage.
"What do you think," Brugger wants to know from Merkel, "what does this reaction say about the feminist state of Germany in 2008?"
"Nothing good," replies Merkel.
In politics, "being a woman is not an advantage"
As the interview progresses, it becomes clear that Angela Merkel does not want to forget her dithering at the G20 summit, but wants to show more edge today.
Also because she has repeatedly experienced during her career as a politician that "being a woman" is not an advantage in politics.
In this context, Merkel mentions the 2005 Bundestag elections, when many women in Germany were still unsure whether a woman could really become Chancellor.
"Something terrible is happening in our country"
Angela Merkel spent the first 35 years of her life in the GDR and is a child of East German descent. Merkel quotes from an article in which her 35-year GDR past was described as "ballast". That hurt her.
Hazel Brugger comes from Switzerland, grew up partly in the USA and has lived in Germany for eight years. Early on in her life, she noticed how much trouble people in Germany have with the term "national pride", which of course has a lot to do with the country's history.
The comedian would like to know from the politician what it would take for a healthy national pride to develop in Germany.
"The best time we had on this topic was during the 2006 World Cup in Germany," says Angela Merkel. At that time, there was a certain lightness in the country, which probably had something to do with the polyglot national coach Jürgen Klinsmann.
Hazel Brugger then wants to know whether the former Chancellor took the far-right AfD seriously enough from the outset.
Merkel's answer: "The AfD started something that counteracted national pride, it said: We are the people, in other words our party and our supporters. I have always been extremely opposed to this statement. When a party says who belongs and who doesn't, i.e. who is elite and who isn't, something terrible happens in our country."
Later, Hazel Brugger wants a specific tip on how to deal with relatives who vote AfD at family dinners over the coming Christmas period.
There are certainly people who are difficult to pick up because they don't want to listen, Angel Merkel replies seriously. "Where a conversation is still possible, we should definitely talk to each other."
Angela Merkel: "Well, you see, that keeps it exciting"
Towards the end of the interview, Hazel Brugger returns to her amiable cheekiness when she says to Angela Merkel: "After reading the book, I now have the feeling that I know everything about you - except who you are."
Merkel (smiling): "Well, you see, that keeps it exciting."
Brugger: "You're not known for turning your private life inside out."
Merkel: "No."
Brugger: "There are TV series like 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians', for example, that would talk about something for six seasons ..."
Merkel: "... but that's also their lifeblood."
