The Chancellor made a whistle stop tour of the north east town of Greifswald, expecting to return to a hero’s welcome.
But after meeting well wishers and beginning a speech upon a makeshift stage, the familiar heckles from Alternative for Germany (AfD) supporters began.
And taunts came to a head when a light aircraft flew overhead with a banner reading “Vote AfD”.
It is the latest hijacking of a Merkel campaign appearance by the populist party, which has been targeting her since she hit the election trail in early August.
Noisy AfD demonstrators have been bussed in almost anywhere the Chancellor has visited.
Earlier this week she was heckled by AfD supporters as she attempted to deliver a speech in Brandenburg City.
But the stunt on what is essentially Ms Merkel’s home soil is sure to have hurt.
Where once she might have expected a homecoming to be greeted with huge cheering crowds, the AfD support, while staged, reflects the changing attitudes in what was once east Germany.
Ms Merkels’ open-door immigration policy split the country, and eastern coastal towns like Greifswald have become something of a heartland for the anti-immigration AfD.
More worryingly for Ms Merkel is the fact current polling suggests AfD is likely to become the first far right party elected to the Bundestag since World War Two.
The populists are currently well above the five per cent margin required to win seats in Parliament, with a current standing of between seven and 10 per cent.
But polls also predict Mrs Merkel’s ruling coalition of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany(CDU) and its sister party the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) will win comfortably.
The CSU/CDU is expected to clinch between 37-40 per cent of the vote, with the SPD and lead candidate Martin Schulz second on 22-24 per cent.