In 2015, a couple who fled Syria named their daughter after Angela Merkel. Six years later, the girl starts school in Cologne and receives mail from the former chancellor.
Can she write a little? But yes, the girl nods: “Shall I show it?” Absolutely. But what? As it turns out, your own first name works quite well. So the six-year-old begins to scrawl, letter by letter. First an A. Then an N. Then a G. And then you start to get an idea of what’s going to happen. At the end, “Angela” is on the note. The name that is associated with 16 years of Chancellorship.
Angela, six years old, started school on Thursday. She now goes to a primary school in the south of Cologne. At some point she might meet people her own age named Sophie or Maximilian. According to the Society for the German Language, in 2015, the year of her birth, these were the names that parents preferred to give their babies in Germany.
Angela is actually called Angela because of Angela Merkel, the ex-Chancellor. Her mother Medea and her father Ezzat fled Syria to Germany in 2015, they say. As are many others. It was the year Merkel said the three words “We can do it”. A sentence for which she is admired by some and demonized by others to this day. With Medea and Ezzat, however, the emotional state was clear: they were grateful to Merkel for her refugee policy. Her daughter was born in Cologne shortly before Christmas – and was given the name of the chancellor. “We said: We’ll make Angela,” says Ezzat, who now works as a warehouse clerk at a supermarket.
Actually, one knows such cases rather from other contexts. From film heroes, pop stars or athletes. When the marathon runner Waldemar Cierpinski won gold at the 1980 Olympics, the commentator Heinz Florian Oertel shouted the legendary words “Dear young fathers or aspiring fathers – have courage! Feel free to call your newcomers today Waldemar!”
But after a politician? “She has helped a lot of people. She helped us,” says Father Ezzat when asked about Merkel. The choice of name he still thinks is spot on, that much is clear.
Now Angela, who likes to dance, is already starting her school career. If you ask her if tall Angela is nice, she says: “Yeah.” The fact that she received mail when she started school may also contribute to the verdict: Merkel’s office sent her a photo of the former Chancellor with a greeting. “For Angela” is written on it. Signed by Angela.
The contact was made by a couple from Cologne who have been helping the family on a voluntary basis to get along in Germany for years. The photo will be handed over on this day. Angela quickly puts it next to her satchel. Now you see four faces: Angela, Angela, Anna and Elsa. The latter are main characters from the film “Frozen” and can be seen on the backpack. Angela is a fan. She’s looking forward to school – even regardless of the amenities her school bag promises. “When I’ve eaten all the sweets, I’ll go on to school,” she assures.
In fact, in the years after 2015 there were reports of families from Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq who gave their children the first name Angela. Today they have been somewhat forgotten. For many, New Year’s Eve in Cologne at the end of 2015 marked the end of the welcome culture. Merkel is also no longer in office – and many other major issues are now piling up ahead of refugee policy. Russia, energy, all that.
But when you stand face to face with little Angela, a lot of this memory suddenly comes back to you. Somehow it is also a part of German history that is now being taught. For Father Ezzat, Merkel remains a luminary anyway, even without office. “She stays here,” he says. At the same time, he taps his heart.
