Merkel’s punk pick for leaving ceremony raises eyebrows

Outgoing German chancellor's choice of soundtrack for military tattoo hints at uncharted hinterland

Angela Merkel has left Germans wondering how well they really know the chancellor who has governed them for 16 years, after picking a song by the punk rocker Nina Hagen as the soundtrack for her military leaving ceremony.

Merkel, whose Social Democrat successor, Olaf Scholz, is expected to be sworn in as chancellor next week, will be given a customary military farewell in the courtyard outside the defence ministry on Thursday evening.