Germany Swears In Its 7th Postwar Chancellor

Gerhard Schroeder recited the oath of office Tuesday to become the seventh chancellor to rule modern Germany, bursting with pride over his successful challenge to the legendary Helmut Kohl but humbled by his countrymen’s enormous expectations.

The hand-over of power marked the completion of a generational and ideological change across Europe, with conservatives like the 68-year-old Kohl and Britain’s Margaret Thatcher now sidelined by younger moderates such as Schroeder and Tony Blair.

Fellow Social Democrats and the environmentalist Greens, with whom Schroeder has formed a new government, voted with surprising unity to confirm the 54-year-old chancellor with the first ballot of the 669-member Bundestag, the lower house of parliament elected exactly a month earlier.

The 351 votes in favor of Schroeder’s selection exceeded both the number of seats controlled by the two coalition parties and the most ardent hopes of mainstream Greens that their more radical colleagues would refrain from voting against Schroeder in a gesture of principled protest.

“I’ve reached my professional goal,” Schroeder told journalists after results of the secret ballot were announced and met with a thunderous standing ovation. “What was important for me was that the coalition voted together.”

Despite the display of goodwill by the Greens to work productively with the Social Democrats in their governing marriage of convenience, Schroeder entered office under a shadow of suspicion that he is less the “man of the middle” he claimed to be during the hard-fought election campaign than the instrument of the party’s decidedly leftist chairman, Oskar Lafontaine.

Schroeder’s first parliamentary address to outline his priorities for change after 16 years and 16 days of the Kohl era is due next month, but a policy contract drafted with the Greens during negotiations to form the new government hints at a far more socialist approach to tackling the country’s myriad welfare and employment woes than candidate Schroeder advocated.

The new government has vowed to restore small pension cuts enacted during Kohl’s last two years in office and to boost taxes and phase out nuclear power.

Lafontaine, known as “Oskar the Red” for his affection for state intervention and a tax-and-spend approach to problem-solving, ushered in Schroeder’s first controversy even before any of the new ministers had taken office. Lafontaine insisted that Schroeder diminish the portfolio of the economics minister to expand the power of the Finance Ministry that Lafontaine has taken over, prompting Jost Stollmann, the most pro-business figure in Schroeder’s planned Cabinet lineup, to spurn the reduced office and accuse the new chancellor of dancing to Lafontaine’s leftist tune.

Germany’s most powerful industrial barons have also warned that they will not cooperate with Schroeder’s “Alliance for Jobs” program to reduce nearly 11% unemployment unless he drops some of the new tax burdens being drafted by Lafontaine.

On a blustery day dampened by fleeting rain, Schroeder’s ceremonial ascension stretched from morning until late night. His confirmation came before noon after the Bundestag’s ritual opening roll call, while his recitation of the oath of office was made at 4 p.m. and the formal swearing-in by President Roman Herzog was conducted an hour later. Clearly eager to get down to business, he called his first Cabinet meeting for 8 p.m. and worked with his new team late into the night.

Newly appointed Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer of the Greens party also dove into his new role, embarking on a European tour that will cover Britain, France and Poland before the end of the week. Now sporting a suit and tie for state occasions, the 50-year-old Fischer personifies the toned-down Greens who have dropped their more strident demands for a chance to wield power instead of placards.

At his numerous ceremonies, Schroeder seemed nervous about appearing too buoyant, stifling smiles and determinedly maintaining a sober and dignified bearing. On the eve of his oath-taking, Schroeder confided to the weekly magazine Der Spiegel that his pleasure in victory has been tempered by growing awareness of the huge responsibility he has taken on.

He described his emotions as “a mixture of joy about the task, but a bit of uncertainty about whether the incredible expectations that have fallen to me can be fulfilled.”

Kohl, who has retired with the title “chancellor of unity” for piloting Germany through a peaceful if troubled disengagement of its eastern region from communism and the healing of 45 years of division, formally resigned as chancellor Monday. In recognition of his feat in reuniting Germany and strengthening the European Union, Kohl was awarded the Grand Cross--an honor bestowed on only one of his predecessors, postwar Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.

Although Kohl has given up all offices except that of a parliament member for the Christian Democratic Union, which he headed for 25 years, he and his wife, Hannelore, have accepted Schroeder’s invitation to continue living at the chancellor’s official residence on the Rhine River for a modest rent paid to the government.

Schroeder, until now governor of the northwestern state of Lower Saxony, plans to rent another residence in Bonn for the few months before the capital moves to Berlin next year. Doris Schroeder-Koepf, his fourth wife, has decided to remain in Hanover with her young daughter and visit Bonn only for special state occasions.

Schroeder will also be the first German chancellor to forgo a Mercedes-Benz as his official car. Fiercely loyal to Volkswagen, which is headquartered in Lower Saxony, Schroeder has decided in favor of an armored Audi produced by VW’s sister company.