Merkel's father:

"Officials in the West German Lutheran Church called him “Red Kasner” because of his exodus to the east. Allegedly, his status as a

pastor with western roots brought special benefits in the GDR, including access to dissident texts and two cars for his family’s use. One view holds that he continued to believe in socialism after the GDR’s dissolution; another, that he found scriptural basis for communist principles but grew disillusioned with the policies imposed by the Soviet satellite state."

https:// www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/the-pastors-daughter-how-a-striking-family-history-shaped-germanys-powerful-chancellor/2017/09/08/66b81140-88e1-11e7-96a7-d178cf3524eb_story.html?utm_term=.e0a6907db1d0