Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel made the comments as the rival SPD party takes a slim lead in highly volatile opinion polls, ahead of the September election.

As chancellor, Angela Merkel has led Germany through many international crises. How successful was she? A DW documentary interviewed former heads of state, historians and journalists.

After sixteen years in power and with popularity ratings that many politicians can only dream of, Angela Merkel is preparing to step down as chancellor, leaving a great void for Germany, the EU and the world despite a mixed record and legacy.

Germany's Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer praised Bundeswehr soldiers for "achieving incredible things" by getting thousands out of Afghanistan.

During her first term as German chancellor, Angela Merkel had to deal with the economic and financial crisis of 2008, which helped forge her image as a defender of Germany's interests and her fellow citizens' savings. But there would be more challenges to come: the migrant crisis in 2015, and the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. How will German history remember this scientist by training, who grew up in what was then East Germany, who defied the odds to become Germany's first woman chancellor? As Merkel prepares to bow out after 16 years in power, our Berlin correspondents report on her legacy.

A Kosovar artist creates a portrait of the outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel using some 100 kilogrammes of seeds.

Germany votes in one of the most unpredictable elections in its recent history, with Angela Merkel's conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats in a tight race for her crown as she prepares to leave the political stage.

The country's first female chancellor has taken on alpha males in the politics world. But as her nearly 16 years in power ends, Merkel has not been able to enact gender parity or equity in many realms. Why not?

The long-serving chancellor and lawmaker is about to retire. What's next for her?

Both the outgoing chancellor and her would-be successor, Armin Laschet, have congratulated Scholz. The center-left SPD emerged as Germany's largest party in the Bundestag following Sunday's election.

After a meeting with Pope Francis on a a farewell trip to Rome, German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that the Catholic Church must let the truth come out it is to rebuild the trust of Christians the world over.

Angela Merkel is headed to Israel for a last official visit. With the shared history of the Holocaust ever present, the German chancellor deepened the firm alliance between the two countries during her time in office.