Angela Merkel has served as Germany’s Chancellor for more than ten years now, and in her official capacity happens to have met and interacted with quite a number of robots over the past decade. Gathered below is a collection of photos of Merkel greeting, meeting, and shaking hands with robots in factories, industrial fairs, museums, technical institutes, and more. Surely there must be a word in German to describe this situation.
Hi, Robot: Angela Merkel Summiting With Machines
Hints:
View this page full screen.
Skip to the next and previous photo by typing j/k or ←/→.
-
![]()
Read moreGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures to a robot besides Christian Wulff, governor of the German state Lower Saxony, at the Italian stand during the opening of the Hanover industrial fair in Hanover, Germany, on April 19, 2010. #
Jens Meyer / AP -
-
![]()
Read moreGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel reacts as the humanoid robot HRP-2 moves during the opening walk at the Hanover industrial fair on April 21, 2008. #
Joerg Sarbach / AP -
![]()
Read moreAngela Merkel shakes hands with a robot at the industrial fair in Hanover on April 24, 2006. India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh watches her. #
Joerg Sarbach / AP -
![]()
Read moreChancellor Angela Merkel tests a robotic arm standing next to KUKA CEO Till Reuter while visiting the KUKA Industrial Robotics factory on March 13, 2015, in Augsburg, Germany. #
Joerg Koch / Getty -
![]()
Read moreAngela Merkel is offered a flower by a robot engineered by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology as she arrives for a press dinner prior to the Christian Democratic Party's (CDU) 23rd annual convention in Karlsruhe on November 14, 2010. #
John Macdougall / AFP / Getty -
![]()
Read moreAngela Merkel and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi look at a YuMi robotic arm in Hanover on April 13, 2015. #
Wolfgang Rattay / Reuters -
-
![]()
Read moreGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel, escorted by Mamoru Mori, executive director of the museum and former astronaut, touches “Asimo,” a humanoid robot developed by Honda Motor Company, while visiting Miraikan (National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation) in Tokyo on March 9, 2015. #
Issei Kato / Reuters -
![]()
Read moreAngela Merkel with a robot called “Justin,” at the ILA International Air Show in Schoenefeld, south of Berlin, on June 8, 2010. #
Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters -
![]()
Read moreAngela Merkel meets a humanoid robot decorated with typical Dutch attributes—a traditional dress and a tulip—during the official opening of the Hannover Messe industrial trade fair in Hanover on April 7, 2014. #
Johannes Eisele / AFP / Getty -
![]()
Read moreAngela Merkel talks to a robot developed by teenage students on national ‘Girls Day,’ at the Chancellery in Berlin on March 26, 2014. #
Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters -
![]()
Read moreChancellor Angela Merkel looks at an industrial robot at the IBG stand in Hanover on April 19, 2010. #
Jens Meyer / AP -
-
![]()
Read moreGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel poses with a robot called “Bruno” at the stand of the technical university Darmstadt during the third national IT summit in Darmstadt on November 20, 2008. #
Alex Grimm / Reuters -
![]()
Read moreCalifornia Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Intel Chief Executive Craig Barrett watch as Angela Merkel shakes hands with the robot Marvin during the opening ceremony for the CeBIT computer fair in Hanover on March 2, 2009. #
Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters -
![]()
Read moreChancellor Angela Merkel and Britain's Queen Elizabeth smile as a robot waves during their visit at the Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin) in Berlin, Germany, on June 24, 2015. #
Michael Sohn / Reuters -
![]()
Read moreGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel shakes hands with “SpaceJustin,” a humanoid space robot, at the International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA) on June 8, 2010 at the Schoenefeld airport in Berlin. #
Johannes Eisele / AFP / Getty
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.