Pictures: The political life of Angela Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has steered Europe's largest economy through the global financial crisis, the refugee crisis and the coronavirus pandemic in her 16 years in office. Above, a photo taken on June 22, 2012, shows German Chancellor Angela Merkel celebrates after Philip Lahm scored against Greece during the Euro 2012 football championships quarter-final match Germany vs Greece at the Gdansk Arena.

Angela Merkel jokes with Justice Minister Sabine Leutheuser-Schnarrenberger (R) as she notices they are dressed in similar jackets before a weekly cabinet meeting on February 22, 1995.

This combo of 16 file pictures shows German chancellor Angela Merkel from (top row, L to R) 1991, 1994, 2003, 2004, (second row L to R) 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, (third row L to R)2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and (fourth row L to R) 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Angela Merkel and US President George W. Bush look at each other at the American Jewish Committee's centennial dinner in Washington 04 May 2006 in Washington, DC.

In this file photo taken on January 11, 2015 then French President Francois Hollande (R) welcomes German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) at the Elysee Palace before attending a Unity rally Marche Republicaine in Paris in tribute to the 17 victims of a three-day killing spree.

Angela Merkel receiving a flower from a humanoid robot decorated with typical Dutch attributes - a traditional dress and a tulip - during the official opening of the Hannover Messe industrial trade fair in Hanover, central Germany.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Britain's Queen Elizabeth smile as a robot waves during their visit at the Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin) in Berlin, Germany June 24, 2015.

File handout photo released on Twitter by the German Government's spokesman Steffen Seibert and taken on June 09, 2018 shows US President Donald Trump talking with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and surrounded by other G7 leaders during a meeting of the G7 Summit in La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada.

Angela Merkel wears 3D glasses before the premiere of the movie "Pina" by German director Wim Wenders presented out of competition in Berlin on the fourth day of the international Berlinale film festival.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron share a lough after a joint press conference at the Chancellery in Berlin, one day after the new French president took office on May 15, 2017.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel looks through a device next to US President Barack Obama at the booth of German automation company ifm electronic as they tour the Hanover industrial Fair in Hanover, central Germany on April 25, 2016.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel feeds penguins at the Ozeaneum sea museum in Stralsund, May 6, 2011. Merkel adopted a female humboldt penguin at the aquarium and named it Alexandra.

Angela Merkel reacts as she listens to Gregor Gyisi of the Left party answer her speech on the governments policy on Ukraine at the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament in Berlin on March 13, 2014.

Angela Merkel inspects a cloud chamber which makes visible radiation as she tours the "Medica World Forum for Medicine" in Duesseldorf, western Germany on November 17, 2010.

In this file photo taken on June 08, 2015 Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures while chatting with US President Barack Obama sitting on a bench outside the Elmau Castle after a working session of a G7 summit near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, southern Germany.

Angela Merkel is pictured standing in the wind after visiting the newly opened tourist information centre and inaugurating an electric bus, on the the island of Ummanz, near the island of Ruegen in north-eastern Germany.

Angela Merkel holds a cyclamen during a photocall in Berlin, on the occasion of planting several endangered species of native perennial plants in the chancellor garden with the DGG German Gardening Association (Deutsche Gartenbau-Gesellschaft).

Former US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greet German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the North Portico of the White House in Washington, DC, for the State Dinner on June 08, 2011.

Angela Merkel playing with a handball given to her by the German Handball Federation's president (not in picture) as she received the German national handball team at the Chancellery in Berlin on April 8, 2019.

Angela Merkel is partly hidden by a toy wind wheel as she poses with children during the opening ceremony of the Arkona wind park in Sassnitz, northern Germany on April 16, 2019.

A combination picture shows German Chancellor Angela Merkel folding her hands in front of her jackets of various colours during public events. It is a look back at Angela Merkel's 16-year term as Germany's chancellor. Pictures taken from August 2004 to September 2021.

In this file photo taken on November 09, 2020 German Chancellor Angela Merkel puts her face mask on after giving a statement on the outcome of the election in the United States of America in Berlin.