For Friedrich Merz, it will be the culminating achievement of a lifetime. On Tuesday, May 6, at 9 am, the Bundestag will formally vote to elect Merz, 69, a veteran member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, to the chancellorship – a position he has aspired to since the start of his political career. It will be a crowning achievement for Merz, the eternal rival of Angela Merkel, whose frequently-predicted political comeback had ended up appearing impossible.

The absolute majority of support necessary to elect Merz as chancellor is not in doubt, as the so-called "black-red" coalition, composed of the CDU-CSU and the Social Democratic Party (SPD), came out of the February 23 elections with a total of 328 out of 630 votes in the Bundestag. According to protocol, Merz will then proceed to Bellevue Palace to receive his letter of appointment from German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, before going back to the Bundestag to be sworn in, therein asking that "God help [him]," as the text suggests. The outgoing chancellor, Olaf Scholz, who will go back to being a regular MP, will have said his farewells the night before, accompanied by the Bundeswehr orchestra which will play three pieces of his choice, as tradition dictates. The set list, which is always a subject of commentary among observers, has been revealed by Der Spiegel: It is expected to include Otis Redding's "Respect," The Beatles' "In My Life," and an excerpt from Johann Sebastian Bach's Second Brandenburg Concerto, a tribute to Scholz's hometown, Potsdam.

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