Angela Merkel is now the Chancellor of Germany

Flowers and smiles on Merkel's first day

By Ray Furlong BBC News, Berlin

Angela Merkel gave the briefest flicker of a smile when the result of her election was read out.

After a warm reception, work begins swiftly for the new chancellorOn the gallery overlooking parliament, her parents Horst and Herlind Kasner, both in their late 70s, sat eating biscuits in the shapes of the letters CDU, the party she leads.

They smiled warmly as the venue filled with applause at the election of a daughter who they had once told: "You have to be better than all the rest."
She was soon surrounded by a swarm of MPs waiting to congratulate her, many bearing bouquets of flowers.

CLICK HERE for BBC NEWS report on Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel.

Michael McCafferty comments:

What a wonderful day for Angela Merkel, for Germany and for conservatives around the world.