From TikTok to Coney Island, the former German foreign minister did not come to New York City for a smooth ride.
Ahead of her swearing-in ceremony in September 2025 as president of the U.N. General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock launched a TikTok page with an introductory post. In the video, Baerbock hails a cab, hops in and reads notes in a notebook titled “Better together,” a nod to her theme for the 80th session. The taxi heads up First Avenue and stops in front of the United Nations. Baerbock opens the door; the camera zooms in on the black high heels she is wearing. She gets out, closes the door, smiles—and cuts. The scene plays out to New York’s iconic song “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys.
In most settings, the video might read as fun, relatable — maybe even inspiring. At the United Nations, however, where diplomats often argue over a comma and no woman has ever held the job of secretary-general, the video — which has been viewed more than 4 million times since it was posted — got people talking.
“Older men definitely know how you should behave as a powerful woman,” Baerbock told Envoy. “For example, there were some comments in Germany that the PGA should not show her ankles in high heels.” At 44, Baerbock is among the youngest people to hold the job. She is also the fifth woman to do so. Her predecessor, Philemon Yang, a former prime minister of Cameroon, was 78.
When she published the video, Baerbock expected some backlash, but she did not come to New York City for a smooth ride. She says it aligns with her approach to the role. Since beginning her term as president of the U.N. General Assembly in September, she has repeatedly emphasized that this session is not a normal one and that the U.N. is at a crossroads.
“I’m always trying to deliver on Monday what I preach on Sunday, and politicians, foreign ministers, heads of government, are preaching that we’re here to serve the people,” Baerbock said. “These days, [young people] inform themselves via social media. We may like it or not, but this is reality. So if we want to reach the people we serve, we have to also deliver our messages on their platforms.”
The setting and content of the video were intentional, Baerbock said. As such, both the yellow cabs and high heels were key to its success, she thought.
“I used New York as the kickoff, because on social media, you cannot really hit the attention of people if you start off giving a speech as a rostrum,” she said. “The U.N. has this unique opportunity being based in one of the most popular cities around the world that catches everybody’s attention if you start with New York.”
More importantly, Baerbock wanted to project a different brand of female leadership.
“Some men are not used to female leadership looking like a female, but this is a power of female leadership as well,” she said.
Baerbock then recalled a recent event commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration on Women, where she saw countless women leaders take the stage in their own way. “This is how we are as female leaders, and this is also the strength in the 21st century that female leaders do not dress or act anymore like male leaders, but they lead in a female way, and most of the time, this is a more inclusive leadership.”
Baerbock, who is from Germany and served as the country’s foreign minister from 2021 to 2025, comes from a nation used to female leadership. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel led Germany for 16 years. Baerbock, who ran for the country’s top job in 2021, is seen as a possible future leader. For now, she says she is focused on being president of the General Assembly, a post that lasts 364 days and one she intends to make the most of.
“I am a type of person, and I think this counts for kind of every woman if you want to do something, you want to do something straight. This is why women also prepare 150% and not 100% because sometimes there are double standards for men and women,” she said. “I was very well aware for which position and for which role I’m applying, knowing that the United Nations is under pressure financially and politically, and it was like a decision by conviction to say, in these times, we have to bring all the forces together who believe in the international system, the multilateral order, and achieve great things.”
A life in politics
Annalena Baerbock was born in Hanover, the capital of the German state of Lower Saxony, and grew up in Schulenburg, near Hanover, in a renovated farmhouse. She is the daughter of a social worker and a mechanical engineer. As a child, she often joined her parents in anti-war protests. She joined the Green Party in 2005. As a teenager, Baerbock was a competitive gymnast and won bronze medals in national championships.
A mother of two teenage daughters, Baerbock quickly got used to being over-scrutinized in German media as a high-profile politician. She often faced questions about how she balances motherhood and whether that made her fit for office. In 2024, Baerbock announced her separation from her then-husband, Daniel Holefleisch, and asked for privacy for her family.
Baerbock said moving to New York City was a necessary breath of fresh air for her and her two daughters. She acknowledged the criticism she faces on social media affected them, and Manhattan — a place where “not everybody knows the former German foreign ministers” — allowed her daughters to live a new, more anonymous life.
Baerbock said she enjoys the opportunities the city offers. While she doesn’t have much time off, she took some with her daughters to visit the amusement park Coney Island, in Brooklyn. It was right before the U.N. General Assembly, and she used the childlike experience to take the pressure off. She enjoyed the Slingshot, a two-seat capsule that sends riders into a brief weightless arc before they plunge and rebound in spinning swings. It reminded her of her time competing on the trampoline as a gymnast.
“It really [brought me] back to my roots,” she said. “For heavy international diplomacy and politics, it’s sometimes good to just feel like a child again and be thrown up in the air and have all the adrenaline with you.” She added that the experience was likely good preparation ahead of General Assembly week and its ups and downs of diplomacy.
After becoming foreign minister, Baerbock realized that while she traveled the world for work, she often didn’t get to see the places she visited. Much of her time was spent in hotels or conference rooms. To counter that, she grabbed her running shoes and set a goal of running 100 kilometers (62 miles) a month, using that time to explore. She is doing the same in Manhattan.
“I always try to run to Central Park,” she said. “But then I have to run many kilometers due to where I live, and go there and come back, come back, but the Hudson side, the East River side, the East Village, the West Village, so kind of from Lower Manhattan and mid-Manhattan, I discovered many things.” She has also run with the ambassadors running club, which starts at 6:30 a.m. Wednesdays, but Baerbock joked it starts too late for her, as she runs at 5 a.m. every morning so she can spend time with her daughters before they go to school.
From the countryside of Hanover to New York City’s skyscrapers, the sky is the limit for Baerbock. One of her key tasks this year will be the highly anticipated selection of the next U.N. Secretary-General. While she emphasizes the decision is in the hands of member states, she is acutely aware of the need for the organization to meet the moment.
“Everybody has to be very aware that the choice of who will lead the organization will send a powerful message about who the United Nations is in 2026 and whether we truly serve all the people of the world, of which half are women and girls,” she said.
“We have known and heard from so many firsts of our kind, first presidents of their kind, first Olympic winners of their kind, first female doctors of their kind. It’s more than just one woman. It’s about whether millions, if not to say billions, of women and girls all around the world feel that they are totally equal to men.”
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