In praise of… Joachim Sauer ("Mr. Merkle")

In praise of… Joachim Sauer

Just when you you thought you'd heard the last of the Wags, along come the Swags. The "summit wives and girlfriends" may not have spent the world economy out of its problems at the G8 over the past three days the way the English football Wags might have done, but Cherie, Laura, Ludmila and the team nevertheless managed to fill plenty of column inches with their photo calls in St Petersburg and at the Peterhof grand banquet on Saturday night. There was, though, one conspicuous absentee. Of Joachim Sauer, there was nothing to be seen. If the name means nothing to you, then that's because it's the way that Chancellor Sauer's entry at Angela Merkel's husband prefers it. The 57-year- old science professor (he's a chemist, his wife used to be a physicist) made it clear from the start that, however high Ms Merkel may rise in the political firmament, he intends to stay out of the limelight. During the German general election last year, Professor Sauer made few appearances and refused all interviews except on quantum chemistry. When his wife was inaugurated as Germany's first woman chancellor, the professor stayed home and watched on TV. Unsurprisingly, Professor Sauer also passed up the visit to St Petersburg in favour of pressing business in the lab at Humboldt University. Sauer by name, sour by nature, say the critics. But the man who has said he does not want to be a second Denis Thatcher offers a timely reminder: no law compels political spouses to play a public role if they choose not to do so.