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The capital
Crowds, mimosas and Martians
The wave of protests against right-wing extremism has reached the province: “Never again is now!” demonstration on Saturday in Frankfurt (Oder).
© Patrick Pleul/dpa
The anti-AfD protests reach the province, the budget finally reaches the Bundestag. Also in the new edition of “The Capital”: the Chancellor, Helene Fischer and the first and still only district administrator of the AfD.
“The capital” – the newsletter from the Berlin stern office. Every week with the most important assessments from the editorial team. Subscribe here for free.
Dear readers,
can you remember your first demo? What was it about, how did you feel? In ’89 on Alexanderplatz, when there was a fight against the SED government, I got into it more by chance. Two years later I deliberately skipped school and instead protested against the Iraq War shouting “No blood for oil”. It felt very significant. There are demonstrations that have the power to shape an entire generation. The protests after the Dutschke assassination attempt in 1968 were like this, the Bonn Hofgarten demo against the NATO double decision in 1981, the fairy lights in the early 90s.
Now it’s that time again. The wave of demonstrations against right-wing extremism and misanthropy simply does not subside. It has spilled from the big cities, Hamburg, Berlin, Düsseldorf, into the regions that are sometimes disdainfully called provinces. In the small towns, where it sometimes takes real courage to take to the streets. 1,500 people came together in Bautzen, Saxony, over the weekend. To be on the safe side, we all went back towards the train station, you never know.
What do we do with this movement now?
But what do we do with this movement now? This question haunts many people when they return home. We thought together about what must follow from the demonstrations. We have identified 10 points. 10 suggestions for what needs to change – in politics and in our attitude towards it. Because demonstrating alone won’t be enough to stop the AfD’s soaring popularity.
The article is part of the cover package of the new stern magazine, which you can buy at any kiosk starting tomorrow. “Not with us!” is written in large letters on the cover. You will see Helene Fischer’s determined look on it, as well as Florian Silbereisen, Udo, Atze… 25 celebrities speak out, actors, singers, athletes, celebrity chefs and business leaders. It is a call to fight against the enemies of our democracy.
Person of the week
…still became someone else. She is one of the best-known politicians in the country, mostly loud, sometimes rude. She is one of the few people who can tell a panther from a leopard, even in the pitch black of the night. So far it has mainly annoyed the Chancellor, and in the future possibly the President of the Commission or her successor. And above all, she has the longest name since party friend Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger.
We are of course talking about: Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann.
On Sunday, the Liberals put the defense politician on notice: She should lead the FDP as the top candidate in the European elections in June. And help the traffic light-plagued Liberals, who are barely five percent high, achieve new greatness. Benedikt Becker gives you three reasons why this could even work. And two reasons that speak against it.
And otherwise?
The year is almost over again, the first month is done – and hey presto, habemus household! Almost anyway. Benedikt Becker (hard-working man!) has reconstructed for you in his “Chronicle of an Odyssey” how it all began a year ago with the new pen pal relationship between Christian Lindner and Robert Habeck – and how it turned into what was probably the longest household marathon in post-war history.
Yesterday the draft budget was introduced into the Bundestag, personally by Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner. Today it was about the rather puny individual budget of the Federal Chancellery. But this is, as tradition demands, the hour of reckoning with government policy. You can read a best-of from 210 minutes of exchanges in our live blog. This much can be revealed: It was about “Mimosa” and “Martians”, but surprisingly little was about the household itself.
The opposition leader spoke first and then the Chancellor – that is also tradition. Only this time it almost sounded as if Friedrich Merz and Olaf Scholz had swapped roles. Merz played the statesman, Scholz sometimes roared as if he were the attacker. You ask, who won now? My answer is simple: read Nico Fried’s comment!
Lots of favorites!
Your highlight of the week
… is our update from Sonneberg. My colleague Johanna Hausmann checked again to see what was going on, i.e. the AfD’s first district administrator. What is he actually up to, six months after taking office?
My highlight of the week
… is Fried’s new column. The man not only knows a tremendous amount, he also writes a lot. And that’s why he offers you, dear readers, a bet: It’s about the cabinet reshuffle. Because the Chancellor and his government are, let’s say, disfavored by the electorate, some contemporaries are already sensing a cabinet reshuffle is approaching. “The debate will start,” he writes, “but it won’t come.” Are you opposed to this?
We wish you a good week, which by the way – excuse the small final curve – is a shortened week for many Berlin students. The half-yearly reports are available on Thursday at many schools. Why? Because after the train on Friday, the transport companies are now on strike. Which unannounced strike are you most looking forward to? Write to me.
But now: warmly, you
Jan Rosenkranz
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