“Konrad Volksmann, a young man of thirty-six years old, unlike most of his peers, had a goal to become Chancellor of Germany. He no longer remembered when he first wanted this: either when he read the biography of Konrad Adenauer and wanted to become like him; or when he and his mother went out to a street demonstration and, chanting slogans for the unification of both Germanys, walked through their quiet town of Altenburg, east of Leipzig; or when, just a few days after the demonstration in which he also took part, the Berlin Wall collapsed, and he realized that he, too, could influence the political life of the country...”