Why Germany’s conservatives can’t get over Angela Merkel

Politico Europe · Feb 21, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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News Politics One sentence in Friedrich Merz’s address to the CDU party congress gives a big clue. Whatever the CDU’s internal debates over her legacy, a formal break with Merkelism is not imminent. | Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images Analysis February 21, 2026 11:38 am CET For nearly a full minute, delegates at the Christian Democratic Union’s party congress in Stuttgart were applauding the guest of honor seated in the front row when the man on the podium began to fidget. “At her side …,” he ventured, attempting to introduce the next dignitary. Only when he interrupted the applause a second time did the hall finally quiet down. Friedrich Merz, Germany’s chancellor and leader of the center-right CDU, had just experienced what must have felt like a mixed blessing: welcoming Angela Merkel. Merkel — chancellor from 2005 to 2021, former CDU chair and for years Merz’s rival — had largely stayed away from party gatherings since leaving office. In Stuttgart on Friday, however, the 71-year-old was greeted not merely with courtesy but with genuine warmth. Many delegates rose to their feet. Party congresses are carefully choreographed affairs, equal parts political rally and class reunion. Displays of unity often conceal deeper tensions. Yet Merkel’s silent and brief appearance in Stuttgart spoke volumes: about her, about Merz and about the party they both shaped. Whatever the CDU’s internal debates over her legacy, a formal break with Merkelism is not imminent. If anything, Merz increasingly resembles the woman he once defined himself against. The shift was encapsulated in a single line from his speech: “I have made a final decision to seek support for our policies exclusively in the political center.” This sentence marked a notable departure. And it was hard not to imagine Merkel registering it with quiet satisfaction. A year earlier, on the eve of Germany’s federal election campaign, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group under Merz had introduced a nonbinding but symbolically potent motion calling for a tougher migration policy. The resolution passed only because the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party voted in favor — a taboo in German politics, where all established parties uphold a “firewall” against any form of cooperation with the AfD. “I don’t look right or left; on these questions I look straight ahead,” Merz said at the time. Many interpreted his statement as a willingness to blur the firewall. The political left reacted with alarm; mass demonstrations followed. Merkel, breaking her customary post-chancellorship silence, criticized Merz’s move as a mistake. Few doubt she welcomes his repositioning now. ‘Dear Angela, welcome to Stuttgart’ Which raises a question: Why did Merkel receive such a warm reception in Stuttgart, even though broad swaths of the party agree that her tenure involved serious missteps — from her approach to Russia to her handling of the 2015 migration crisis? For years, Merz kept his distance, promising to make the CDU “distinct again” and the German state “more capable of enforcing its authority.” Now he was saying: “Dear Angela, welcome to Stuttgart.” Online critics have coined the portmanteau “Merzel,” mocking the perceived convergence of Merz and Merkel. | Pool photo by Kay Nietfeld via Getty Images Is this a sign of softened convictions? Or has Merz concluded that a majority in his party prefers harmony, real or staged, over open conflict, particularly when power is at stake? Wherever Merkel moved through the convention center, heads and smartphones turned. She was greeted warmly, embraced and asked for selfies. Delegates repeatedly described the party as a “family,” including some who once criticized her. Jana Schimke, a former CDU member of the Bundestag from Brandenburg and now head of Germany’s hotel and restaurant association, belongs to the party’s conservative wing, which long bristled at Merkel’s centrist course. “I see it as very positive that the former chancellor is here,” she said. Merkel, she suggested, wanted to show support for Merz. Jens Spahn, now leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group and once Merkel’s health minister, struck a similar tone. “A party congress is a moment of positioning, but it’s also a family celebration,” he said. “And Angela Merkel is part of the family.” Volker Kauder, Merkel’s longtime parliamentary floor leader, put it bluntly: “The party wants unity, not dispute.” And Saxony’s state premier, Michael Kretschmer, visibly recoiled at the suggestion of a break with Merkel: “Not at all!” ‘Merzel’ A former federal minister, granted anonymity to speak candidly, offered a more strategic reading: For Merkel, the visit was a “win-win;” it signaled that she still cares about the party. For Merz, regardless of personal antipathies, there was little choice but to strike a conciliatory tone. There may also have been an electoral calculation, the former minister said. In Baden-Württemberg, where CDU state leader Manuel Hagel is seeking to beat the Greens’ Cem Özdemir in a March 8 regional election, photographs with Merkel may appeal to center-left voters more effectively than images with Merz. In the end, the CDU cares most about being able to govern. From whom it poaches voters — and with what imagery, messaging or promises — comes second. Online critics have coined the portmanteau “Merzel,” mocking the perceived convergence of Merz and Merkel. Inside the party, however, there is scant resistance. Roughly 91 percent of delegates reelected Merz as CDU leader in Stuttgart — a stronger endorsement than that recently secured by his Bavarian counterpart, CSU chief Markus Söder, or by Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil of the Social Democrats. Merz leaves Stuttgart as a winner. But Merkel, too, can claim a quiet, belated victory.