Germany Loves Merkel's No-Drama Style

Angela Merkel has acquired more than her share of nicknames over the course of her political career. Helmut Kohl, the former chancellor who was Merkel’s early political benefactor, referred to her condescendingly as das Maedchen—the girl. When she first campaigned to become chancellor, she was sometimes called the Iron Lady, a nod to Margaret Thatcher. Her policies during the euro crisis have earned the occasional reference to Otto von Bismarck (aka the Iron Chancellor); the French have contributed Madame Non. For most Germans, however, only one nickname has managed to stick: Mutti, an antiquated term for mommy. Mutti is the caregiver who makes comfort food when you’re upset and holds your hand when you’re scared.

Merkel will almost certainly win Germany’s national election on Sept. 22 because of her impassive, no-drama demeanor in the face of the euro crisis. In those parts of Europe suffering acute economic pain, that style has provoked anger, even revulsion. Protesters in Greece and Spain depict Merkel not as a gentle Mutti but as a harbinger of doom with a Hitler mustache.