But her decision -- a first taste of the compromise she has needed often since 1989 -- was not simple to accept for her devoutly Christian parents, who saw their daughter blend in beneath the atheistic banners of Communism. ''Our approach is hard to explain in the west,'' Mrs. Kasner suggested. ''But quite simply the children had a nice time together in these groups.''

Ulrich Schöneich, now the mayor of Templin, also grew up the child of a pastor in East Germany. His parents, resolutely opposed to the Communist state, stopped him from joining any of the youth movements -- and he suffered for it. ''I think my father was right,'' said Mr. Schöneich. ''But each family must decide for itself.''

Ms. Merkel's view of East German society today is marked by the ambivalence of somebody who adjusted to survive. Yes, it was oppressive, she says. But there were family, friends, nature. ''The system was evil,'' she said. ''But not everything was evil. Even in a system like that, Christmas Eve can be nice.''

Capitalism can also look less than nice. Unemployment in Templin, as in many towns in the east, is now 24 percent. The old furniture and textile industries have collapsed. Employment in the agricultural sector has plummeted.

''The world is not black and white,'' Mrs. Kasner said. ''I went to America in 1986 with my association of churches and saw blacks with crutches lying on the church steps. Then I came back here and saw doctors living in the same apartments as workers. As a Christian, you may start to ask which system is better. It is not easy.''

Still, the Kasner family opposed the Communist government. In 1989, as protests grew, their church was a center for peace prayers and discussion. Throughout the decades they lived there, Pastor Kasner would defiantly ring the church bell next to his house to usher in the New Year.

Adjusting Rapidly in East

What Lothar de Maizière, the last leader of East Germany before unification, first noticed in Angela Merkel was her succinctness. Her press summaries, he recalled, ''said twice as much in 20 minutes as my other spokesperson said in 40.''