Germany has a new chancellor. Sure, that may have been last week's news, but this week, Germans have finally begun the process of getting to know their new leader. On Wednesday, Angela Merkel went before the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament, to give her first major speech as chancellor. The country was watching closely to see what Merkel had to say about the recent kidnapping in Iraq of Susanne Osthoff, a 43-year-old aid worker and the first kidnapping victim from Germany, and welcomed the chancellor's statement that Germany cannot be blackmailed.

But while current events were on everyone's mind on Wednesday, many were also eager to see exactly who they had elected to become the country's leader. And they were surprised to discover a determined woman set on defining her goals for her government who has a firm grip on her office.

Some were also surprised to find that Merkel, who has often been referred to as "Kohl's Girl" -- a reference to former Chancellor Helmut Kohl who placed Merkel in his cabinet not long after the fall of the Berlin Wall -- apparently sees her true mentor in a different former chancellor. Namely, Willy Brandt. In her speech on Wednesday, Merkel urged Germany to "take a chance on more freedom," a direct reference to Willy Brandt's famous 1969 speech in which he challenged Germany -- at the time struggling to finally make a complete break with its Nazi past -- to take a chance on more democracy.

Even if some might be tempted to interpret her statement as a desire to move toward neo-liberal economic policies, Claus Christian Malzahn, in an editorial for SPIEGEL ONLINE, argues that her main point is primarily that of limiting the state's presence in Germans' everyday lives. "Freedom, as Merkel means it," Malzahn writes, "is not the unleashed market, but above all the absence of state paternalism and control." Merkel, who grew up in East Germany, said in her speech that the biggest surprise in her life was not becoming chancellor, but that of being granted freedom when the Wall fell in 1989. Merkel also made an early move to step out of the shadow of former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. "She thanked Schröder in the name of all Germans, thus killing two birds with one stone: First, she offered a fig leaf to the Social Democrats. And second, Schröder was made, through her expression of gratitude, history. The new chancellor now has an open road in front of her."

Other major German dailies were also in optimistic moods following Merkel's speech and most were very complimentary. The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung argues that for the first time, the wordy and technical coalition agreement between Merkel's conservatives and the Social Democrats was translated into "understandable German." Indeed, the paper seems willing on Thursday to accept that Germany has an actual government rather than merely a marriage of convenience between the country's two biggest political parties. "Out of the 'forced marriage' that came out of what many see as an unhappy election result, a 'project' has formed: The project of a platform that aims at encouraging Germans as well as using their potential better and creating a new bond of trust."

Also breaking with Germany's habitual pessimism, Financial Times Deutschland was also willing to look on the plus side of things on Thursday. Admitting that her speech was "everything but rhetorical fireworks," the paper does point out the optimism present in her address. It seemed she was trying to emphasize the possibility that change might bring about a positive result. "Merkel knows that after a number of disappointments, the Germans are very pessimistic about their futures. She also knows how difficult it will be to turn this mood around in the direction of optimism." Nevertheless, Merkel is doing her best to exude a positive attitude.

The conservative paper Die Welt is also pleasantly surprised -- especially with Merkel's apparent desire to clearly formulate the problems her government is facing. The paper uses its front-page editorial to once again offer up its simply formulated anecdote: Germany's problems can easily be solved by shrinking the government. But it also offers up a healthy dose of praise for Merkel. "Her presentation was barebones, intelligent, moderate, and didn't unnecessarily slam her political partners who, until very recently, were her political opponents. It was a goodwill speech -- an enjoyable speech."