Angela Merkel's "Freedom" sets record

The book “Freedom” by former Chancellor Angela Merkel is breaking records.

According to a recent analysis by Media Control, which records all book sales in Germany and compiles the “Spiegel” bestseller list, the Merkel memoirs were sold more than 200.000 times in the first week of sales.

That's a record. "No other book has had such a brilliant start this year," says Ulrike Altig, Managing Director of Media Control.

Just a few days after its release, the new publication conquered all the bestseller lists: #1 in the “Spiegel” hardcover non-fiction list compiled by the Baden-Baden market researchers – and in Austria and Switzerland, the Merkel memoirs also landed at the top of the winners’ podium shortly after they went on sale.

52 percent of buyers are men and 48 percent are women, according to Media Control’s analysis.

In her memoirs, Angela Merkel provides an intimate look at the formative moments of her political career and her life.

The book addresses key stages of her chancellorship, personal setbacks and successes, as well as her visions of freedom and responsibility.

Critics complain that Merkel does not provide an honest reflection of her 16-year chancellorship and hardly practices self-criticism.

The book is perceived as a self-satisfied justification of their policies without in-depth analysis. However, this does not seem to be hurting sales.

Sierks Media / © Photo: Tobias Koch, tobiaskoch.net, Wiki loves parliaments/Bundestag 2014