The appointment of Angela Merkel as the first female German Chancellor and the first from the former East Germany is a landmark in the country’s struggle to surmount the obstacles of unification following the end of the Cold War, 15 years ago.

But her electoral triumph is in contrast to the harsh challenges the eastern part of the country is facing. Despite unification, the former east Germany is still in arrears compared to the much richer west.

The difference comes out in Merkel’s own story. She recalled how growing up as a church-goer in an officially atheist country strengthened her resolve to gain personal and economic freedom.

But when it was time to campaign for election, she did not flaunt her origins.

There were reasons that put her off from running as an ‘Easterner’, one of them being that there are more voters in the west. Another is that east German voters remain closer to the left wing parties.

Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union won 25.3 per cent of the votes in the east, just under the 25.4 per cent obtained by the Left Party and outgoing Chancellor Gerhard Shroeder’s 30.5 per cent.

Unemployment in the east remains high at 17.6 per cent, compared to 9.5 per cent in the west. Many young people have left, and towns in the east have seen their populations shrink. A third of westerners have never bothered to visit the former east.

She is now the first woman Chancellor of Germany. Her job is not an easy one. The Social Democrats got as many seats in the Cabinet as Merkel’s party and what is described as the “grand coalition” has ended several weeks of political crisis.

Whether the system will work remains to be seen. Many are predicting a difficult time for Germany with another election in the offing.

The two sides share common ground in reforming the welfare state and in tackling high unemployment. But there are other issues on which the parties do not see eye to eye. For one thing, the CDU and the SDU have a different outlook on Turkey’s membership of the European Union. Merkel’s party is against Turkey joining, but the SDU, which has the foreign ministry portfolio, is in favour.

The last time there was a left-right coalition, there were low expectations of success, but the government lasted three years. That was from 1966 to 1969 – different times and different ways of doing politics.

The risks for Germany – the largest European economy – and Europe in general are high, struggling as they are to find ways how to pay their social obligations while improving economic growth amid global competition from countries where businesses are not weighed down by European-style benefits and payroll taxes.

Merkel had once put aside the idea of a coalition with the Social Democrats, which she had then said would lead to stagnation. But she has had to swallow her words because she could not secure a majority to run the country.

She will continue Schroeder’s policy of supporting reconstruction in Iraq by training security personnel outside the country without sending German troops.

There might be difficult times ahead when key economic questions need to be answered. For example, the left could agree to some less restricting worker protections, so long as the regional wage system is not touched.

And the two sides appear to be on common ground on how to fix Germany’s budget deficit, which needs to be restrained in new spending.

But as might be expected in a marriage of convenience, the coalition is not generating much enthusiasm. We can only wait and see.