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Article snippet: OSNABRÜCK, Germany — Just 9 years old when Chancellor Angela Merkel was first elected in 2005, Kristin Auf der Masch cannot really remember a time when Germany was led by a man. But if Ms. Auf der Masch, now 21 and an apprentice at a wind energy company in this northwestern city, finds it hard to imagine a male chancellor, she also finds it impossible to imagine a female boss. “There are lots of women at my level, and then there is Angela Merkel,” she said during a recent classroom debate about the election on Sept. 24, when Ms. Merkel is expected to win a fourth term. “There aren’t many women in between.” Germany, which has been led by the most powerful woman in the world for 12 years, has a woman problem. During the election campaign — and in earlier ones — Ms. Merkel shunned the word “feminist.” She has rarely if ever publicly promoted the issue of advancement for women — and women in Germany have not advanced much. Even in politics, where the chancellor has proved a role model for many and has vowed to appoint a gender-balanced cabinet if re-elected, the number of women in Parliament is already certain to drop, whatever the outcome of the vote a week from Sunday. It is a strange contradiction. Ms. Merkel embodies what feminists the world over have hoped to accomplish, but the rest of Germany has largely not caught up. A generation of young Germans has grown up with a woman in the highest office. Children ask their parents if boys can become chancellor. Male r... Link to the full article to read more