A conversation with Angela Merkel: remembering her rise to power But underneath what came across as a certain nervous shyness, Merkel was already displaying signs of political cunning. Margaret Thatcher, the towering female political force of the time, had made clear her displeasure at the prospect of German reunification, and on realising that I was a member of the British press corps, Merkel quickly sought to reassure. "I spent some time in England and really loved the country," she said. I liked its people too. The experience clearly had practical applications. Merkel's English was considerably better than that of most East Germans, forced to endure years of learning Russian in school (though she excelled at that too). And she seemed to have genuinely fond memories of the British. We chatted for a while - about the extraordinary events that had transpired in East Germany over the past year: the revolution that had sprung out of the protestant churches of Leipzig and then Berlin; the street protests that, without a shot being fired, had brought one of Eastern Europe's most hardline communist regimes to its knees; the glorious night of November 9 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell. A year previously Merkel had been a researcher at the Central Institute for Physical Chemistry in East Berlin, an institution within which she had worked in obscurity for 12 years after being awarded a doctorate in physics at the University of Leipzig. For all her very East German experience (and, in 1990 at least, appearance), Merkel was actually born in West Germany, in the city-port of Hamburg. Not that she remembered much about her time there. Within weeks of her birth in July 1954, her father Horst, a Lutheran pastor, accepted a post in the East German province of Brandenburg, and although the family enjoyed certain perks (two cars; greater freedom to travel) her upbringing and world view was essentially an East German one. After what seemed a decent length of time, she said she was going to get herself a drink - but would be back in a minute. I assumed that was the cue for getting away to mix and mingle. But to my surprise, the future Chancellor of Germany returned to carry on the conversation, as promised. Still riding the euphoria of the moment, she told me that with the fall of the Wall she had sensed new opportunities and had jumped at the chance to help shape the brave new world that was to come. She had joined Democratic Awakening, a conservative grouping that formed part of the Alliance that had just won the [March 1990] election. Despite a lack of experience (something she shared in common with many of East Germany's new politicians), she had then found herself catapulted into the limelight as de Maizière's deputy spokesman. I decided she was someone with whom I could do business, and made her my main point of contact with the first - and as it turned out the last - freely-elected East German government. Frenetic times lay ahead: weeks of political horse trading as de Maizière sought to create a coalition that would negotiate the country out of existence; scandals as it emerged that some of those presenting a new face in East German politics had spied on behalf of the Stasi [secret police]; tough negotiations on the introduction into the east of the Deutschmark. Then there were the "2 + 4" talks involving the two Germanies and the four countries that had occupied them after the Second World War - the Soviet Union, United States, Britain and France - and the difficult process of persuading the Russians to accept German reunification. The shy, rather unfashionable Angela Merkel kept a low profile, but clearly enjoyed the buzz of being close to the top table as history was made. Black and white photos of her at the time reveal a glint in her eye. She blossomed. And her quiet efficiency and sober, sensible can-do approach impressed Helmut Kohl, the then Chancellor of West Germany, who took a shine to the "girl" from the East. The "girl" he referred to is now better known as the "Mutti" (Mummy) of the German nation, a position to which she rose in part due to the patronage of Kohl (he quickly made her a minister in the united German government); in part due to her own astute judgment and sense of timing. But when her old mentor became embroiled in a financial scandal in the late 1990s, Merkel was quick to speak out against him, thereby securing pole position in the race to take over. Five years later, Angel Merkel became the first woman ever to become the Chancellor of Germany and, barring some unforeseen turn of events, on Sunday, she should be returned for a third period of office. My own dealings with Merkel came to an end in October 1990 when East Germany abruptly ceased to exist and there was no longer a separate government requiring the services of a deputy spokesman. But I look back on the various conversations and meetings I had with her with fondness. Hers was one of the sanest - and friendliest - voices around, and in addition to being courteous, efficient and reliable, she was also someone who, behind a sometimes dour exterior, displayed flashes of humour. My favourite Merkel memory concerned a request I put in to her on behalf of the distinguished political journalist Peter Jenkins who was coming to Berlin during the height of the reunification talks frenzy and wanted an interview with Lothar de Maizière. The East German Prime Minster was, alas, not going to be available, she told me. "But I have an alternative suggestion," she said, almost coyly. Your editor could always interview me. The future Chancellor was beginning to stir.