Angela Merkel 'still stockpiling goods' after poor East German upbringing

OLD habits die hard for German Chancellor Angela Merkel who has admitted she stills stockpiles goods at home due to her upbringing in shortage-riddled East Germany.

Just days away from the 20th anniversary of re-unification, Mrs. Merkel said growing up in a state that excelled in nothing but empty shelves in the shops has left its mark.

"Sometimes I buy something even though I don't really need it," she said.

"This penchant for stockpiling lies deeply inside me, because living amid the shortages you just took whatever you could get."

And she admits she still "shops Ossi" or eastern, buying her washing-up liquid made by an eastern firm and enjoying dishes that were once popular behind the Iron Curtain.

"After reunification there was a certain feeling of foreignness because everyday life had been turned upside down, from the retail sphere to bureaucracy to the working environment.

"Since 1990, East Germans have done unbelievably well in adapting to it all," she said.

Ms Merkel, who learnt fluent Russian and took part in compulsory Marxism-Leninism courses when she was a pastor's daughter growing up, said it took her 16 years after the Berlin Wall crumbled to stop using the East German term Kaufhalle for supermarket.