The song ostensibly tells the story of a girl angry at her boyfriend for bringing black-and-white film for their camera for a holiday on the Baltic coast.

But the hidden meaning, which was well known at the time, is a dig at the dreary monochrome nature of life behind the Iron Curtain — a message that clearly resonates with Mrs Merkel.

There was no punk movement in East Germany at the time, and though Hagen later rerecorded the song in her trademark snarling style, the original version was much more traditional, and early performance videos show her doe-eyed with flowers in her hat.

It is unclear which is Mrs Merkel’s preferred version. Her other chosen songs include It Should Rain Red Roses for Me, a Sixties number by Hildegard Knef, which features the lyrics: “I was supposed to conform…Oh, I can’t conform, I can’t make do, I always want to win too”.

Her third choice, an 18th-century hymn entitled Holy God, We Praise Thy Name, is perhaps the least surprising for the daughter of a Protestant pastor who has usually appeared more conventional in her tastes.