From New York Times, I'm Michael Babaro. This is the Daily.

This weekend, Germans head to the polls to elect a new chancellor

and to answer the question of what Germany and the rest of Europe should look like

after 16 years of Angola Merkel.

I spoke with my colleague, Berlin bureau chief, Katrin Benhoff.

It's Friday, September 24th.

Katrin, describe what exactly is at stake in this weekend's election in Germany.

This is an incredibly unusual election. We've had the same chancellor for 16 years,

Angola Merkel, who's basically been not just the leader of Germany, but also the leader of Europe.

And in this time, she's guided Germany and the continent through all these crises,

one after another, and given people kind of this feeling of stability throughout.

And so, yeah, in many ways it feels not just the future of Germany's at stake here,

but actually the future of Europe as well.

Well, so given that, what is the defining question in the campaign to replace her?

I mean, the incredible thing is that after 16 years in power,

she's walking out of office as the most popular politician in the country.

Germans are pretty contented with the way that things have been under Angola Merkel.

And a lot of people are feeling anxious about this change at the helm,

which has given them this stability.

And so, they're looking at the people who are trying to replace her with that in mind.

In a way, the question becomes, who can do what she did for us in the last 16 years in the years to come?

Well, let's talk about what she has done and what exactly after 16 years,

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