A combination picture shows former German Chancellor Angela Merkel holding flowers as she hands over the chancellery to her successor, newly appointed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, at the Chancellery in Berlin, December 8, 2021 (top) and German former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder leaving after presenting flowers to then Christian Democrat (CDU) leader Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, Germany November 22, 2005 (bottom). REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/Wolfgang Rattay