Pretty interesting actually. So he actually runs things in germany when Merkel isnt around, he is the Chairman of the Junior party in Germany's coalition government. mmm how times have changed, guess the world is becoming an increasingly small place. Still a young chap, maybe he will rise to be chancellor one day. <img src=http://www.blog.fenamsoftware.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/avatar1.jpg alt=rOSLER/> Philipp Rösler (born 24 February 1973) is a German politician, who, since 2011, has been the Federal Minister of Economics and Technology and the Vice Chancellor of Germany. He is the Chairman of the liberal Free Democratic Party. The Vice-Chancellor of Germany (German: Vizekanzler) is, according to protocol, the second highest position in the Cabinet of Germany In case of the Chancellor's absence, the vice-chancellor acts in his or her place, for instance by heading cabinet meetings. Philipp Rösler was born in Khanh Hoa, Ba Xuyen Province, in the former South Vietnam (now Soc Trang Province, Vietnam). He was adopted from a Roman Catholic orphanage near Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). After training to become a combat medic in the German Bundeswehr (the Federal Defense Force), Rösler was exempted to study medicine at the Hannover Medical School. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 2002 and left service as a Stabsarzt (a rank for German medical officers equivalent to an army captain) in 2003. Once asked by Stern magazine if he was bullied at school because of his Asian appearance, Mr Roesler replied tongue-in-cheek that bullies steered well clear "because people always think all Asians are karate experts."