Did you get this from a first-hand source? I love it, but it sounds too good to be true.
Germans have a ‘contest’ (the word-geeks run this) each year. So around two to three years ago....at the end of the year came the selection and ‘merkling’ came up. It was a teenage creation.
You find that word creation is a hyped-up business with German teens. They will sit and observe something, then give it a name.
In this case (spring 2015), the observation of Chancellor Merkel’s management skills during the crisis led them to observe a lot of different leaders (some in religion, some in mayor’s positions, and so on) that just sit and observe...never affecting change.
So the word geeks had their meeting and nationally...it was chosen toward the end of 2015.
I live over here in Germany and kinda notice episodes like that weekly.