Ending an era in Germany’s history, Gerhard Schroder ousted Helmut Kohl in overwhelming fashion to become the new chancellor of the troubled European country.

“I think the margin of victory was a little surprising, but not the outcome,” said Holger Glatzer, president of Zeitgeist, a German student organization at Iowa State. “I think this was going to happen anyway — we needed change in the government.”

After a long, hard-fought campaign, Schroder came out decisively as the winner, showing the German people’s weariness of Kohl’s 16-year term, said Glatzer, graduate student in chemical engineering.

“[Kohl] is a little worn out — he was already in there for 16 years,” Glatzer said. “I don’t think he could come back with any new ideas to solve the problems facing Germany.”

Kohl, a Christian Democrat chancellor, oversaw the peaceful unification of Germany in 1990 and the Cold War’s end in Europe. Kohl also was the last European leader still active in office when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, according to the New York Times.

“I think it is good that Kohl was defeated,” said Norbert Karp, treasurer of Zeitgeist. “I think he probably is a little washed-up, and we need some new approaches to solve the problems that we are facing.”

Support for Schroder’s Social Democrats and the Party of Democratic Socialism surged while Kohl’s Christian Democrat’s popularity tapered off, according to the New York Times. Kohl’s Christian Democrats won about 27.3 percent of the vote, down from 37.5 percent in 1994.

“I think [Schroder] is better than Kohl,” Glatzer said. “I don’t know that much about [Schroder], but I know he has several different opinions about where Germany should be headed and I think he is more critical of the new Europe.”

Germans are hopeful Schroder can do the job.

“I am pleased with the results of the election, and I hope he brings some new ideas into German politics,” Karp said. “It is tough to say how effective Schroder will be. People say that he talks a lot and promises a lot, but it is doubtful that he will be able to accomplish it all.”

The biggest problem facing the country is high unemployment, which currently 4.1 million people are unemployed in Germany, according to the New York Times.

“It is pretty bad; it is really uneven in some parts,” Glatzer said. “It is close to 25 percent and that cannot be acceptable.”

A major cause of the unemployment is a lack of industrial jobs, Karp said.

“It is very expensive to run a factory with wages and high taxes,” Karp said. “The companies are doing very well — they just don’t have enough jobs to meet the demand because they are building new factories elsewhere in different countries.”

Germany is not as bad off as it is depicted to be, Glatzer said.

“People think that it is bad in Germany, but compared to other countries, Germany is doing quite well,” Glatzer said. “In general the standard of living is not bad. The difference between the rich and poor, is not like in the United States. [In Germany] it is different — nobody has to be hungry.

“I am hoping that Schroder will be successful in his attempts to combat unemployment,” he said.

Another main problem facing Germany is its place in the new European State, both Karp and Glatzer said.

“It is so unsure in Germany. The biggest threat is the rest of Europe and how Germany will play in it,” Karp said. “The big problem is the new currency — it does not seem like it can be very stable.

“It is weird that the countries of Europe can come to an economic common base and not a political base,” he said. “Without a political common base, it will probably not work.”