Angela Merkel wants her memoir to save her legacy. It’s backfiring.

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Angela Merkel wrote a 736-page memoir to secure her crumbling legacy. The effort is backfiring.

Her new book, “Freedom"—published in late November in nearly 30 languages—is riling up even some of her most ardent supporters, in part because Merkel declines to consider that any of the policies of her four-term chancellorship, from 2005 to 2021, might have been misguided. “Much pride, little self-reflection" was the headline that the powerful German state broadcaster ARD, the key media platform of Merkel’s time in power, put on its capital bureau’s report on the book’s launch. Merkel’s own political heirs in the Christian Democratic party say that publicity around the memoir is damaging their current election campaign.

They blame their unpopularity on the challenges they inherited from Merkel and lament that voters are now reminded by the book that she—and by extension, her party—helped create the country’s problems. “The publication of this unrepentant, self-righteous book at a time of economic and political turmoil like this is hurting the conservative bloc," said Nico Lange, a former senior official in Merkel’s government. The reaction is accelerating the already-sharp downturn Merkel’s standing has taken since she left office.

For most of her 16 years as chancellor, her domestic approval ratings were among the highest of all European leaders. But in recent years both the German public and her one-time supporters abroad have turned against her signature policies and initiatives. Formerly celebrated in some quarters for opening Germany’s doors to asylum seekers who began flooding Europe’s borders in 2015, Merkel is now held responsible for the many problems that accompanied the influx.