Painting by Colin Davidson for TIME
TIME

The Choice

Angela Merkel Time Person of the Year Time Magazine Cover
Painting by Colin Davidson for TIME

Europe’s most powerful leader is a refugee from a time and place where her power would have been unimaginable. The German Democratic Republic, where Angela Merkel grew up, was neither democratic nor a republic; it was an Orwellian horror show, where the Iron Curtain found literal expression in the form of the Berlin Wall…Read the full story here.

Read more:
TIME’s 2015 Person of the Year: Angela Merkel

Runner-Up: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Runner-Up: Donald Trump

Runner-Up: Black Lives Matter

Runner-Up: Hassan Rouhani

Runner-Up: Travis Kalanick

Runner-Up: Caitlyn Jenner

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