Retired German Chancellor Angela Merkel has billed the German taxpayer just under €55,000 in hair and makeup expenses despite leaving office less than two years ago, a freedom of information request by Der Tagesspiegel has revealed.
The costs primarily derive from the former chancellor’s use of a personal hair stylist and a fashion designer. For those services, Merkel has charged the public purse an average of €3,000 per month since leaving the chancellorship. In her first year of retirement, Merkel claimed €37,780 in cosmetic expenses despite a lack of public appearances.
Merkel stepped down in 2021 after 16 years in the top job and, except for the occasional statement on Ukraine, has stayed largely out of the public eye, preferring instead to spend her time with friends and husband, Joachim.
Based on her career as a Bundestag MP, federal minister, and chancellor, Merkel receives a generous pension of roughly €15,000 per month. For comparison purposes, as chancellor, she earned €35,000 per month.
In addition to a monthly pension, Merkel is also entitled to a state-paid office with five staff members, including a driver.
Following her departure, the 69-year-old Merkel admitted that she was uncertain about what to do in her twilight years amidst speculation that she may commence a speaking tour of international universities.
Notwithstanding the hefty cosmetics bill, Merkel earned a reputation, throughout her tenure, for relative frugality, living in a fourth-floor Berlin apartment with her husband, interspersed with regular trips to her country home in Templin in eastern Germany.
In other hair-related news from Germany, perhaps the most incongruous story relates to the social democratic successor to Merkel, Olaf Scholz, who ran up €21,808 in hair styling expenses despite being largely bald.
While Merkel prefers a somewhat subdued retirement, previous chancellors have taken an active role in public life. Helmut Schmidt became co-editor of Die Zeit and both Helmut Kohl and Gerhard Schroeder started jobs as lobbyists.
