The following is from the Trumpet Brief sent out yesterday. These daily e-mails contain personal messages from the Trumpet staff. Click here to join the over 20,000 members of our mailing list, so you don’t miss another message.

Today the news has finally come! Angela Merkel is stepping down. She has been German chancellor for almost 13 years, the fourth-longest chancellorship in German history. But today she announced that in December she will step down as leader of her party, the Christian Democratic Union, which she has led for 18 years. She plans to finish her term as chancellor through 2021, but she will not seek reelection.

Within three years—and probably much sooner, Germany will get new leadership. For the Trumpet, this is huge news! We’ve been anticipating this event for years! And what comes next is going to be indescribably dramatic.

“As political bombshells go, this is a biggie,” Deutsche Welle posted on Twitter. “If Angela #Merkel is voluntary relinquishing her party’s chair, it means her days as chancellor are almost certainly numbered.”

It’s unusual for the chancellor to not also be the leader of the largest party in government. Merkel herself has said in the past that that should be the case. So she will need a considerable amount of support to even finish her term.

This is the consequence of a major shift in German politics that has been going on for awhile now. Establishment parties like the Christian Democratic Union have lost massive amounts of support as voters have turned to fringe groups. Merkel’s policies encouraging immigration into Germany have proved to be especially unpopular. The most recent federal election saw the mainstream parties severely weakened, with the only option for a viable government being a weak coalition of disparate parties. Even that coalition took months to negotiate. More recently, members of Merkel’s party have continued to suffer in recent state elections.

For years, Merkel has endured as other world leaders have come and gone. But the beginning of the end of the Merkel era is now officially underway. And the race is on for new leadership, whether it is to come from the cdu or elsewhere.

If you’ve been a Trumpet reader for more than a few weeks, you know how much we have been watching for a new German leader. We have been watching for this event for decades! If you’re just now learning about the Trumpet, we have a radio program for you. Click below for today’s Trumpet Daily Radio Show about the end of the Merkel era—and what is coming next.