Germany's first lady: tall, glamorous and tattooed

GERMANY'S new first lady Bettina Wulff has been turning heads with her towering height, striking looks, glamorous outfits – and a large tattoo on her right shoulder.

The 36-year-old communications manager, who met her husband on a business trip, became an instant media darling in Germany even before Christian Wulff, 51, was sworn into office yesterday as Germany's youngest postwar president.

Bettina Wulff, a single mother before Wulff abandoned his wife of 18 years for her, has been compared in German media with Carla Bruni and Michelle Obama: young, dynamic and independent.

All three first ladies have been called the epitome of modern women in their respective countries. All have won praise for their fashion awareness and trendsetting styles, and symbolise a new generation.

"Will Bettina Wulff become Germany's Michelle Obama?" asked Bunte, a celebrity magazine, about Germany's first lady.

Although the presidency is largely a ceremonial job in German, Mrs Wulff's colourful personality is expected to instil a sense of style that has been missing since Bismark left the civil service shortly before the First World war.

There were as many pictures of Mrs Wulff in a tight black dress – discreetly covering her shoulder tattoo – in German newspapers after her husband's election on Wednesday than there were of Christian, Germany's tenth post-war president.

"Picking her was the best decision Wulff ever made," wrote Die Zeit newspaper. "Germany will have a first lady whose picture soldiers will love pinning up in their lockers."

"A first lady to test the boundaries," said the distinctly conservative broadsheet Die Welt. "She is tattooed and loves the spotlight," it added.

She was working in communications at tyre maker Continental in 2006 when she met Wulff, then state premier of Lower Saxony.

"I wasn't waiting for someone to come along and sweep me off my feet," she has said. "I always assumed that I was going to have to take care of myself and I've kept doing that all along."

Wulff, with his clean-cut good looks and friendly smile, was never shy about putting his first wife – a 51-year-old lawyer – and their daughter on display to show traditional family values.

For years the Wulffs appeared as a picture-postcard family in Sunday newspapers and magazine cover stories.

But Wulff, a Roman Catholic and a leader in his Christian Democrat party, risked his reputation and career when he announced he was leaving his wife for the younger woman.

"Extra-marital affairs by other politicians would have caused a scandal," wrote Stern magazine this week. "But Christian Wulff and Bettina Koerner had no such problem. Wulff went on the offensive in the summer of 2006 when he appeared with his new flame. He gave a short speech announcing his marriage was over and introduced Koerner."

Wulff married Bettina in 2008 but has had to defend her modern views on marriage and her continuing to work.

Bettina has said of her tattoo, an intricate black design: "I've had it for a long time," she said. "I like the shape and I don't have any problem with it." "But Christian Wulff and Bettina Koerner had no such problem. Wulff went on the offensive in the summer of 2006 when he appeared with his new flame. He gave a short speech announcing his marriage was over and introduced Koerner."

Wulff married Bettina in 2008 but has had to defend her modern views on marriage and her continuing to work.

Bettina has said of her tattoo, an intricate black design: "I've had it for a long time," she said. "I like the shape and I don't have any problem with it."