Angela Merkel has visited Yerevan at least twice
It turns out that Angela Merkel, who has occupied the position of Chancellor of Germany since November 21, 2005, has visited Armenia at least twice during her college years. This is not mentioned in her official bio. But there are people, who have met Merkel in Yerevan in 1973-74 and even spent a whole day with her. In her bio she mentions that in 1973 she was enrolled in the physics department of Leipzig University.
Then it says that during an exchange program with Moscow-Leningrad she met her first husband Ulrich Merkel. Merkel’s maiden name is Kasner. The students of physics department of YSU remember that in 1973-1974 of group of German students visited Yerevan in the framework of an exchange program.
“Back then the physics faculty of Yerevan State University was one of the top faculties. We had famous professors like academicians Edik Chubaryan, Davit Sedrakyan, Anri Nersisyan and their fame was beyond the limits of the Soviet Union,” says one of the students of the faculty from back then. The German students lived in the student dorm located on Mashtots avenue and according to local students they rarely socialized with the locals. “We knew that they avoided communication because each group had a secret agent from GDR and all of them tried to be modest to keep themselves away from trouble,” says a student. A former student of the university, the wife of one of famous Armenian academicians, who didn’t wish to be introduced, assured that Merkel studied in Leningrad but visited Yerevan a few times. “Merkel’s friend used to study in Yerevan and they eventually married. Angela would come to Armenia for a few days. During one of these visits I spent a whole day with her. I should say that she was extremely modest and reserved.
There was no separate bed or room in the dorm for guests. But she could have slept on the floor. German students had sleeping bags with them. She would sleep in one of those bags on the floor in the friend’s room.” Our respondent doesn’t know how many times Merkel has visited Yerevan. “I wasn’t always informed of her visit but I know that she has been here at least twice. Perhaps she had visited again that I am not aware of,” she says. Is Merkel that she knows the one, who was to become the Chancellor or Germany in 30 years? Our interview is more than sure of that.
“I still have communication with the German students, who studied in Armenia, who periodically come to Armenia. So there is no confusion.” Does Merkel remember that she had visited Yerevan? There is information that Merkel very well remembers our city and is even planning to visit again. Our sources ensure that in one of the international conferences she had spoken with the Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan and told her about her college years in Yerevan. She hoped that she would visit Yerevan again soon.
By Avetis Babajanyan
