Angela Merkel has gone from being Helmut Kohl's "little girl" to one of the world's most influential stateswomen.
Forbes Magazine recently declared Ms Merkel the most powerful woman in the world - for the 4th time. All the opinion polls indicate that she will remain as chancellor after the elections later this month. So how did this physicist from a small town in East Germany become a world leader?
BBC Radio 4's Profile of Angela Merkel was originally broadcast on Saturday, 12 September 2009 at 1900 BST.
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