Germany’s having Olaf, and that’s despite only 9% of Germans believing the incoming chancellor has a sense of humour.
Olaf Scholz may not be known for his quick wit and side-splitting jokes, but Germans prize sobriety and competence ahead of such frippery. Hence the man Der Spiegel magazine once dubbed “The embodiment of boredom in politics’’ has become leader of Europe’s most populous and economically powerful country. He will need the steadfast diligence and attention to detail he has shown in his quiet glide to power over the past four decades as he attempts an overhaul of the economy and society.
63 year old Scholz was born into a middle class family in Onsabruck , northern Germany, and grew up in Hamburg. As a Lutheran, he was baptised in Germany’s Evangelical Church (a federation of Protestant churches) but religion plays only a nominal role in his life although he supports respect for Germany’s Christian based culture.
