On April 10th 2000, Angela Merkel became the first female leader of a German political party - and then Chancellor in 2005. But before she became one of Europe's most powerful politicians, she had an entirely different career - as a theoretical chemist in communist East Berlin. Witness speaks to her former colleague Michael Schindhelm. PHOTO: Angela Merkel waves two bouquets after her election as chairman of the CDU in Essen, Germany on April 10th 2000.