“The woman simply has no skeletons in the closet”
The real biography of Angela Merkel plays into the hands of the “Miss Merkel” fantasy in that the public does not know how Angela Merkel currently fills her days…
Yes, I always appreciated this restraint and down-to-earth attitude about her. The woman just doesn’t have any skeletons in the closet. Journalists or bad people can dig as deep as they want on the Internet. I actually think she didn’t do any crooked things. She also did not take any posts on any board, like many other ex-politicians. She may have made politics that didn’t suit everyone, but that’s not possible any other way. That’s why Angela Merkel can sit back and relax – and she’s allowed to do that after 16 years in this political mill.
In any case, it is an unusual story that someone who has been at the top of world politics should withdraw so much from the public eye immediately after leaving office…
And then there is so much humor that she lets the song “You forgot the color film” by Nina Hagen play during her official farewell, the “Großer Zapfenstreich”. At that moment, she really won over me again (laughs).
Are there similarities between Angela Merkel’s and your biography?
Of course there are. It all starts with the fact that we were both born in 1954 and come from the East. I’m six months older than her and maybe already had a tooth in my mouth when she was born. We both grew up in the GDR. I also loved physics and was in the Protestant church choir. There’s a lot of intersections, or at least I imagine them, so I have some understanding of a lot of the things she did and how she was. I think most of it has to do with the common GDR past. You know where it hurts.
You are a German acting legend and will be 70 next year. Do you have any plans what you would still like to do in your life?
I would like to continue working for a long time, deal with literature, play and direct interesting roles. I’ve been following this plan for a long time and little has changed over the last few years. If things go well, I can maybe work another 30 years. In any case, I have no intention of retiring. But one thing is of course also clear: if I had a big plan, I wouldn’t tell you about it. I’m far too superstitious for that… (laughs).
