The traditionally dull start of the year in Berlin was interrupted by two political debates. On the one hand there was the former Governing Mayor and incumbent Senator for Economic Affairs Franziska Giffey, SPD. She explained that over the holidays she came to the decision not to run for state chairman of the party anymore. Only to find out a day later that she could still be the top candidate in the 2026 election. “If you think Giffey is gone, then you’ve cut yourself,” she told the Mirror.
The other debate was somewhat more stressful. For days there was neither a confirmation nor at least a half-denial, as was the case with Giffey. It was about the rumor that has been swirling in the CDU’s Berlin faction for weeks: the possible love affair between Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner and Education Senator Katharina Günther-Wünsch, both CDU. The Picture had made the “sweetest whispering topic in Berlin” public on Wednesday. A few days earlier, Wegner announced that he had separated from his partner. He has two children with her.
On Friday afternoon, Wegner’s lawyer Christian Schertz confirmed the liaison. Kai Wegner and Katharina Günther-Wünsch decided to enter into a relationship in autumn 2023. They asked him to “confirm this for reasons of transparency in order to ensure clarity for everyone involved in the professional collaboration.”
The governing mayor appoints and dismisses the senators
This step was also necessary because Wegner’s private matter had already acquired a political dimension on Thursday. The chairman of the Junge Union (JU) Berlin, Harald Burkart, criticized the possible relationship as the only CDU politician to date with his full name: “That wouldn’t work in a company,” he told the Mirror. “Unfortunately, dependency relationships are not uncommon in the Berlin CDU, such as in the CDU state office.”
You have to know that Burkart is at odds with the state CDU, which considers his election as chairman to be questionable. Other politicians from the Berlin CDU only commented on the case anonymously: The relationship between the ruler and the education senator has been known for a long time. Now that it is public, Wegner has to deal with it offensively.
It had previously become known that the non-attached Berlin MP Antonin Brousek, formerly of the AfD, had submitted a written question about the rumors. In it he calls on the Senate to answer several questions, including: “Does the Governing Mayor of Berlin have a sexual relationship with another member of the Senate, i.e. a person whose professional status depends solely on him?” Since the relationship has been confirmed, the latter is the case: the Berlin constitution stipulates that the governing mayor appoints and dismisses the senators. Unlike in administration and many companies, there are no compliance regulations that would contradict such a relationship.
Wegner named Günther-Wünsch as his preferred candidate a year ago
However, experts also question its legality for other reasons. There will soon be tough negotiations about necessary cuts in the budgets of individual Senate departments. Wegner had announced early on that the Senate departments for the interior and also for education should be exempt from this. The question also needs to be clarified as to how long a possible relationship has existed between the two. Wegner presented Katharina Günther-Wünsch as his preferred candidate for the office of Education Senator during the election campaign a year ago. She was then appointed by him at the end of April.
So far, neither the opposition Greens nor the coalition partner SPD have commented on the affair. It is also assumed within the CDU that the matter will not harm Wegner or Günther-Wünsch. The first months in office as Governing Mayor of Kai Wegner, 51, are seen as successful even by critics in his party. This also includes the fact that with massive police deployment he managed to prevent riots this year like those on New Year’s Eve 2022/2023.
The former school principal Katharina Günther-Wünsch, 40, is considered a good candidate for the position of education senator, which the SPD held for decades. They say she is the right person to implement the necessary changes. Fears that Wegner might favor Günther-Wünsch in the budget negotiations are strange, given that the decisions are made by the budget committee of the House of Representatives. And he is very self-confident.
Wegner’s lawyer also addressed the possible conflicts of interest between the mayor and senator. “Regardless of the fact that such a constellation does not contradict any legal provisions, it is of course self-evident that those involved strictly separate private and professional matters in connection with their official duties,” explained Christian Schertz.
The desire for news about the liaison was so great on Friday morning that even Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke, SPD, was asked about it. Because in the afternoon he was supposed to meet Kai Wegner to record the “Forum” conversation format at RBB. Woidke was asked at a press meeting how he would behave in such a case in Brandenburg. The Prime Minister replied that we will see whether the regulations need to be adjusted. Otherwise it is like this: “Berlin is Berlin.”