Gera - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder warmly embraced two long-lost cousins yesterday, reuniting a family split for decades by the Berlin Wall. In the industrial town of Gera near their home, Dr Schroder invited the two sisters, Ms Heidelinde Munkewitz and Ms Inge Siegel, to lunch at a local hotel.
On arrival, Dr Schroder hugged them both to applause from local people and all three were smiling broadly as they entered the restaurant. The German tabloid Bild had recruited Dr Schroder's sister to help find their father's wartime remains in Romania. Their research showed that Dr Schroder's uncle had two daughters with whom the family had lost contact.
The two sisters fretted whether to use the familiar du rather than the formal Sie to address a man who has been known to correct visitors calling him "Chancellor Schroder" rather than "Federal Chancellor Schroder". In the end they used the informal du to address the relative they had never met before.