BERLIN — A bank employee from the provinces, a pair of unsuccessful candidates for state governorships and the architect of the Social Democrats’ terrible election campaign are among the 15 men and women who will be sworn in as members of Angela Merkel’s Cabinet on Wednesday.

The most remarkable thing about the new government might be how unremarkable it is. No larger-than-life personalities such as Joschka Fischer, no rapier wit to match that of Wolfgang Schäuble and no charmer like Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg.

The chancellor’s newest and likely last team is much like her — dependable, if a bit boring.

After the tumultuous, six-month coalition-building phase, boring might be a good thing. More drama is the last thing Germans want.

Lost in the blur of the coalition talks is the fact that the new "GroKo," as Germans refer to the grand coalition, has adopted an ambitious agenda (in terms of workload, if not scope).

“We have a lot of work ahead of us,” Merkel said Monday after the formal signing of the coalition deal with the Social Democrats (SPD).

The clock is ticking. Most German governments have a full four years to push through their programs. Due to the long negotiating phase, the longest in Germany’s post-war history, this one will only have three-and-a-half years.

One of the big goals for both sides of the GroKo was to make the Cabinet more female and younger. They’ve definitely succeeded on the first count, achieving gender parity for the first time. That said, it’s notable that most of the key ministries (finance, foreign, interior, economy) have gone to men. And while the average age has dropped somewhat, only two of the 15 ministers-to-be are under 40. By May, there’ll only be one.

Perhaps most striking is the lack of racial or ethnic diversity. The most exotic-sounding name in the Cabinet belongs to Katarina Barley, the new justice minister, whose father is British.

Not only are there no non-white ministers, there are no Muslims or members of any other minority group.

Germany is not as diverse as some European countries. And yet, when you compare the names and faces of the country’s World Cup-winning football team with those of the Cabinet, something seems amiss.

Given how long it took to even form a Cabinet, many Germans might not be too worried. What they do worry about is how effective the GroKo will be, with more than a third of Germans expressing reservations about the new government in a recent poll.

Even Olaf Scholz, the new vice chancellor and finance minister, appears to have adopted some of that pessimism. Earlier this week he cautioned that the GroKo isn’t a “marriage of love” and said his party would take things “step by step, day by day.”

If that sounds more like a 12-step plan for a recovering alcoholic than a strategy for running Europe’s largest country, it’s worth noting that Scholz, the former mayor of Hamburg, is not the happy-go-lucky type.

Here’s a brief rundown of who and what you need to know about the other players in Merkel’s fourth Cabinet.

Olaf Scholz. Finance minister. SPD. Age: 59

The stony-faced finance expert is the last man standing in the SPD — literally. After the party kicked failed chancellor candidate Martin Schulz to the curb, Scholz stepped into the breech. Generally described as serious and sober, Scholz is not a tax-and-spend Social Democrat. A proponent of the controversial economic reforms pushed through by former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, whom he served as SPD general secretary, Scholz has his share of enemies within the party. But he is close to Andrea Nahles, the head of the SPD's parliamentary group, who is expected become party leader next month. She needed a safe pair of hands as vice chancellor and finance minister, as well as someone she could trust. At the Cabinet table, what Scholz has to offer is continuity. He may not be as penny-pinching as Schäuble was, but any expectation that Scholz will open Germany’s wallet would be misplaced.

Ursula von der Leyen. Defense minister. CDU. Age: 59

One of only two ministers to keep a portfolio from the last GroKo (the other is Development Minister Gerd Müller), Von der Leyen occupies the office at a key juncture. What was once a sleepy Cabinet post is now at the center of Germany’s relationship with both the U.S. and Europe, thanks to President Donald Trump’s demands that Germany do more on defense and the shift in the region’s security picture. Von der Leyen’s biggest challenge might be to win over her own troops, however. Her handling of a scandal involving neo-Nazis in the ranks and concerns about the German army’s readiness for combat have taken their toll on the minister's image.

Peter Altmaier. Economy minister. CDU. Age: 59

Merkel’s longtime Man Friday, Altmaier would have likely preferred the power and prestige of the finance ministry, where he has served as interim minister for the past few months, to the economy ministry. But it wasn’t meant to be. In order to secure the GroKo, Merkel had to give away the finance portfolio. It’ll be up to Altmaier to prove economy isn’t a consolation prize. Germany’s economy has been humming along for years, but there are plenty of reasons to worry, from an aging workforce to an industrial sector that's ill-prepared for the age of artificial intelligence. Only the second Christian Democrat to hold the position since Ludwig Erhard — the legendary father of Germany’s post-war “economic miracle” — Altmaier has big shoes to fill. But he also has the personality and drive to make it work. And most important of all, he has the boss’ ear.

Horst Seehofer. Interior minister. CSU. Age: 68

A political veteran, Seehofer has been the de facto king of Bavaria for the past decade. He agreed to give up his post as Bavarian premier (under pressure) and move to Berlin to become interior minister. As head of the Christian Social Union, the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, Seehofer has often been difficult, especially on the issue of refugees. Over the past two years Seehofer has pushed, often with success, for tougher rules on asylum seekers and other migrants. It’s now going to be his job to ensure those rules are enforced. As a simple member of Cabinet, he’d be wise to keep his disagreements with "Frau Merkel,” as he calls the chancellor in public, to a minimum. Whether he succeeds is another question.

Heiko Maas. Foreign minister. SPD. Age: 51

A native of the tiny state of Saarland, Maas landed in Berlin in 2013 as justice minister after losing a bid to be premier of his home state. Despite Maas’ electoral failures, then-SPD chief Sigmar Gabriel — the outgoing foreign minister — bet the young lawyer had the political skills and personality for the big league. He probably didn’t expect that Maas would one day put him out of work. Maas' record as a minister is somewhat mixed. While he won praise for taking a tough stance on the far right, his effort to rein in online hate speech has created as many problems as it’s solved. A measured and reasoned politician with a weakness for designer suits, Maas very much looks the part of foreign minister. And given that Merkel has taken over most of Germany’s foreign policy anyway, appearances may be the only thing that matter to Maas’ success.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of a former German economy minister.