Friedrich Merz has turned Brilon into a kind of showcase of Germany as he envisions it. With its roughly 25,000 inhabitants, hills, and church tower, the small town, nestled in the bucolic Sauerland region in North Rhine-Westphalia, presents an almost idealized vision of the country: timber-framed houses decorated with hunting trophies and mechanical cuckoo clocks, Gothic-lettered shop signs, and centuries-old shooting clubs where men still gather once a year in hunting attire.

The family home where the new Christian Democratic chancellor, who is to be inaugurated by the Bundestag on Tuesday, May 6, grew up is located on the market square: a large bourgeois stone building, nicknamed the "Sauvigny house," after Merz's mother. Nearing their centenarian years, his parents still live in Brilon and their son visits them every month, as locals confirm. Merz lands his private plane in Arnsberg, where his wife still works, and drives the 45 kilometers to Brilon. To travel here from Berlin, it is necessary to take three different trains, a journey lasting nearly six hours. This illustrates just how distant these two Germanys are from one another.

You have 88.04% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.