Germany and Greece put years of tension over the painful Greek bailout program behind them with Chancellor Angela praising the improvement of the country's finances during a heavily policed visit to Athens.
Many Greeks blame Merkel for the austerity they suffered for much of the past decade, which led to a sharp and prolonged recession and a bad deterioration in living standards.
But very few turned out on the streets to protest the visit, more out of lack of engagement than because of a police ban on demonstrations in the city centre.
Out of the two protest marches called by fringe groups against Merkel's visit, one by the Nazi-inspired far-right Golden Dawn party was cancelled.
The second, by left-wing groups, had a turnout of only 400 a few dozen of whom peeled off from the march and briefly broke a police cordon before being driven back with tear gas.
During talks with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Thursday, Merkel highlighted how strong initial differences with his left-led government were gradually overcome over the past four years.
"Trust was developed between us, there was frankness as we kept in mind that we needed to find a solution," she told a news conference.
"I know people went through great difficulty (in Greece) and had to undergo very hard and harsh reforms."