Now on bbc news. 0ur world merkel� s germany shes one of the worlds most influential leaders. After 16 years as german chancellor, Angela Merkel is standing down. She has shaped european and global politics. What of her own country . What is Angela Merkel� s germany . Summer in berlin, and the end of an era. For the class of 2021, School Days are done, new lives lie ahead. For germany as well, change is coming. Summer in berlin, and the end of an era. For the class of 2021, School Days are done, new lives lie ahead. For germany as well, change is coming. Angela merkel, the only leader these youngsters have ever known, will no longer be running the country in which they have come of age. We dont have a perfect democracy but i think we have a good democracy. Every german citizen knows the common problems and i think in other countries, that is not the case. I love germany. It is, like, in my heart and i never want to leave it. This country has changed significantly since these youngsters were born. Come with me on a journey through merkel� s germany. Well explore the country shes shaped and the country she leaves behind. Germany today, one of the worlds economic giants. This is the land that makes cars, chemicals even a covid vaccine. Angela merkel� S Predecessors must take credit for some of this wealth, but under her leadership, the country has prospered. Good times for the kettererfamily, who have been Brewing Beer since 1877. Germanys best Loved Export has never gone out of fashion. Anke is the next in a long line of ketterers who have taken on the family firm. Husband Philip Shares her passion for beer and took the Ketterer Surname when they married. Germany is a rich country. Its wealth depends on Family Businesses just like this one the so called mittelstand. And the world is changing, fast. German companies are trying to keep up. Earlier this summer. Angela merkel� s last months in office dominated by the worst floods in living memory. The woman once hailed as the � climate chancellor� under pressure to do more to mitigate the effects of Climate Change. Merkel� s germany has reduced emissions, invested in renewables. But its current targets, many argue, are not strict enough, and germany is still burning coal in part because Chancellor Merkel and germany� s still burning coal in part because Chancellor Merkel abandoned Nuclear Power after the disaster of fukushima. A new generation of voters is turning green. But, deep in the german forest, the damage is already done. They� re cutting Down Acres and acres of dying woodland. These trees took 60 years to grow, and are cut down injust six seconds. Forester hans showed us the problem. These bugs bore into the heart of the tree until it dies. They like warmer, drier weather, and Climate Change is weakening the tree� s natural defences. All hans and his colleagues can do is destroy the affected trees to try to stop the spread. They are trying to replant, using other types of trees which they hope will prove more resistant to a warmer, drier climate. Germany� s fairytale forests won� t disappear, but they will look very different in the future and so will german society. Today, more than a quarter of people living in germany have a migrant background. For years, this country has relied on migration to filljobs, keep the economy going, rejuvenate an ageing population. But in september of 2015, Angela Merkel welcomed refugees to germany simply because she thought it was the right thing to do. Dramatic days at the munich railway station. Almost1 million people had come to germany in the months which followed. For some, an enthusiastic welcome. But there was fury too. Wir schaffen das, said Angela Merkel, as she tried to reassure a bewildered europe. A nervous country and a bewildered europe. We can do it. Six years later, many here would argue she was right. The sense of crisis has long passed. But that autumn has redefined german politics, german society. For those of us who were here in september 2015, it felt as though we were witnessing something extraordinary. For many of the exhausted men, Women And Children arriving here, there was, of course, the start of a new life, but for germany, too, it was the beginning of profound change. I first met megan earlier this year, when i went to get a filling repaired. She� s an apprentice here and plans to train as a dentist. Hard to imagine now, that this confident young iranian nearly died five years ago as she and her mother fled to germany. Even now, some germans a minority are still furious with Angela Merkel. They point to migrant crime, terror attacks. A far right anti migrant party now sits in the national parliament, fuelled by lingering resentment, which is particularly strong in places like gorlitz in the former communist east. This is one of germany� s most beautiful cities. You might even recognise parts of it it� s often used, sometimes by hollywood, as a backdrop for historical drama. But behind the facade, this place and many others like it in the former east, have a serious problem. When the Iron Curtain fell, people here were promised blooming landscapes. 30 years on, opportunities are still fewer, salaries and pensions lower than the rest of the country. It� s still hard to convince young people to stay. I came to talk to hannelore and herfriends. They all support germany� s far right party, afd. Merkel� s germany, her decisions, didn� t always go down well with her european or her global counterparts. But, under her leadership, the country has wielded considerable influence. Asjean claudejuncker knows only too well. Hello, nice to meet you. As a former president of the european commission, he worked closely with Angela Merkel through turbulent years. Financial crisis, greek debt crisis, Migrant Crisis and brexit. She was not easy to deal with. Because, as a scientist, she was always reasoning in perspectives. Germany today is seen as a very peaceful, peace building country. Merkel had, to some extent, developed a kind of in the eyes of the world european feeling. She has, as a legacy, something people don� t know, because after Angela Merkel, they will be no other german chancellor not being pro european. Everyone knew that germany was the biggest amongst Member States and that the german economy was, to some extent, predominant. She never said, contrary to others coming from bigger Member States, she never said i� m telling you as the german chancellor, that. She never gave inside the European Union the impression to others that she was in control. She was not the queen, but was a strong princess. Is the eu better place for having had Angela Merkel . I think so. Europe is a better place to be after having had her as a german chancellor. Perhaps Angela Merkel� s greatest struggle came at the very end of her chancellorship. Germany, like every other country in the world, learning now to live with covid. After 1. 5 years, gemany� s artists are getting back on their feet. Was the Corona Crisis one of those rare times when people got the opportunity to see where germany� s priorities lie . Every country in the world, the priority was on economics and also i understand that. Anyway, economics and society of vaccination, medical help this and all that, and then after a long list, culture. For the feeling as an artist who needs an audience, it is frustrating, yes. Gabrielle describes other challenges, too. How, for example, should artists deal with the past when it� s as troubled as germany� s . Of course, with our history, germany has always a problem to identify himself. I see this as a challenge for germany in the future. Never to forget what has happened, and always to educate the whole population. We need, kind of. To settle up and to handle up and appreciate our long history, even before the nazis, and everything is in, like philosophy, drama, poems, the music and so on. I see proudness in a lot of country, all over the world. But in germany it� s very difficult to be proud, so it� s not good. When the historians of the future opened the merkel files, how will they assess her time in office . Does german society reflect her values . After 16 years of Angela Merkel, what does it mean to be german today . It� s a present Day Characteristic that people do not reflect on this too much because they are aware that it doesn� t bring anyone anywhere, to think about national identity. The main legacy of Angela Merkel is to have represented this rational, pragmatic, solution orientated development in the german society. In the german society. She is representing this sort of thinking in the world, which Have A Look at donald trump, Have A Look, maybe, at borisjohnson. It is more shaped by people who have nationalistic or irrational or narcissistic or populist approach. In germany, i think most people would say that this rational, scientific, analytical approach, in the long run, promises to be more efficient hideous german efficiency. Will Angela Merkel be remembered as a great chancellor, do you think . I think so, yes. And, in the long run, people will see that these 16 years have been, if you sum it up, quite successful. Not only economically, but also in shaping the country towards preparing it in the european and global sense for a future which will not be easy. That future, and its challenges, fall to a new generation of politicians. And they, in turn, must listen to The Voice of a new class of voters. Now we have to stand up and say, 0k, stop driving cars, stop flying to holiday, because we need to reduce the emissions, which is right, but we should have also already done this, like, 50 years ago and notjust now, so i think it� s our turn to act and our turn to, yeah, take action. But it� s not all our faults. Do you feel as a younger generation that you have been listened to . That your ideas have been taken on by the government . Yes and no. So i think, yes, they are listening to us, but i dont think that they take us serious, or enough serious. But i think in the last years, weve seen that the Politician System is moving more and more in our direction. Germany is good but the migration. System, like, everyone has a chance to live here and achieve his dreams. Viewed from afar, the world of german politics can often look rather boring. It� s all about compromise, consensus, continuity. In that sense, Angela Merkel has given her country what it expects from a leader. In a turbulent and shifting world, The Voice of calm. We had lots of sunshine for many. Hello, again. It was another warmj across Eastern England where temperatures reached 25 degrees around the Greater London area. We had lots of sunshine for many. This was the scene earlier in the day in hampshire. Further west in cornwall the skies looked rather more threatening. A weak Weather Front bringing cloud and some threatening skies and indeed that we cold front here has just started to form showers. Wales and across the midlands and those storms will push northwards as we go onto the night. A short lived but intense area of rain will work its Way Eastwards Across Northern Ireland as well but the wet as well as the night across Northern England working with a few cracks of thunder to be expected. Still dry at this stage, across the east midlands, East Anglia, south East England and becoming drier later in the night across western counties of northern ireland. Now, tomorrow, generally, it� s quite an unsettled looking weather picture. We have got these areas of rain putting across wales, the midlands, to scotland and later on in the day we start to see that Rain Turning increasingly heavy and thundery as it works into Eastern England becomes particularly slow moving and there could be some areas of around 30 110 millimetres of rain, so the risk of some low cloud, surface water. The weather becoming drier and sunnier, they will come across many western areas. Now, the week ahead, by and large it is a quiet start to the new week with sunny spells around. However, later in the week, low pressure takes over and the weather will turn wet and windy. It is going to be a bit more like autumn later in the week. Monday, few weak Weather Fronts started around but generally pressure will be rising at least for a time. Any rain limited to East Anglia in south East England. A few showers coming to the North West but for many parts of the country it is a dry day on monday with some sunshine and temperatures high teens low 20s and it is a similar kind of picture tuesday with more dry weather to go round. Sunny spells for the most part as well, any early Mist And Fog patches tending to lift, but it will turn windy across scotland and northern ireland. Isolated showers pushing on here towards the afternoon. Temperatures still high teens to low 20s but a Real Change in our weather. Takes place towards the middle part of the week as we start to see areas of low Pressure Move in and towards the end of the week these areas of low pressure deepen, bringing some heavy rain and some strong winds, some autumnal gales on the way. This is bbc news. Rising global Gas Prices ministers say they� ve been assured there� s no cause for immediate concern over the supply of gas, after a meeting with Industry Leaders as at least four Energy Companies are expected to go bust next week. Holiday firms say they expect a surge in bookings, after Travel Restrictions in england are relaxed. France is recalling its ambassadors to australia and the united states, in protest over a security deal, which includes the uk. And we� ll be taking an in Depth Look at the papers with our reviewers Joe Twynham and Lucy Beresford stay with us for that