Merkel bids farewell to Stralsund, her longtime constituency
With five days to go before the parliamentary elections, Chancellor Angela Merkel is returning to her "stronghold" of Stralsund for a rally in support of the struggling CDU candidate Armin Laschet, to whom she hopes to give a boost.
In 1990, local politician Wolfhard Molkentin was desperately looking for someone from his CDU party to stand in the first election of a newly reunified Germany in a Baltic coast constituency, when someone whispered "Merkel" in his ear.
Then completely unknown, Angela Merkel went on to win the seat in constituency 267, which includes the Baltic Sea town of Stralsund and the island of Ruegen, beginning her journey to the chancellery.
Even after 16 years holding the reins of Europe's biggest economy, Merkel "basically hasn't changed", Molkentin told AFP, sitting at the table where he once welcomed her for coffee and cake.
"She was a very simple, stable and trustworthy person, which she still is," said the octogenarian of Merkel, who will step down after Sunday's elections following four consecutive terms as chancellor.
Returning to her constituency for the last time as chancellor on Tuesday, Merkel made a strong pitch for her would-be successor Armin Laschet, who is badly in need of a boost just days before the country goes to the polls.
Laschet will "fight passionately" to "secure Germany's prosperity for the years to come, make Germany secure", said Merkel, as she urged her constituency's residents to give their vote to her CDU.
The still immensely popular chancellor was also joined by Georg Guenther, the local CDU candidate hoping to succeed her in the constituency. Guenther was just three years old when she was first elected there.
