During the election campaign, the Bavarian Greens were met with sheer hatred in some places. In some beer tents they need massive police protection. This particularly affects top candidate Katharina Schulze.
There’s one thing Katharina Schulze definitely doesn’t want: to be a victim. That’s why the leader of the Bavarian Green Party continues to smile bravely – despite the whistles in the beer tent. It is the beginning of August, an election campaign date in the deep south of Bavaria. Schulze appears here, with Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir at her side. There are around 2,500 people in the tent. There are a lot of Green Party supporters in the front, but it gets loud in the back when Schulze steps up to the microphone. Many have whistles in their mouths, others boo or shout “Get the fuck out”.
Schulze is not impressed by this, and if she is, she doesn’t show it. She smiles, toasts the entire tent and continues to talk about equal rights, the upgrading of social professions and climate protection. There is a cart in front of the tent offering tomatoes, cucumbers and even stones for sale. Humor, some say. A border crossing, say the others.
The fact that protests are being expressed so loudly and aggressively is new for the 38-year-old politician. The day after visiting the beer tent, she was shocked. “I have never experienced such an atmosphere and such massive police protection.” Schulze wants to counter this. Keep going, don’t give in under any circumstances. It is a typical reaction for the Green politician. When the wind blows in her face, she accelerates and verbally resists it even more firmly. Just don’t be a victim.
Eggs, stones and massive insults
The Greens received a lot of hate in the Bavarian state election campaign, probably more than the other parties. It didn’t just affect the top candidates. A member of the state parliament’s car is pelted with eggs. In Munich, a member of parliament’s election posters were daubed with racist remarks and set on fire. On a second poster you can see a gunshot wound in the middle of the politician’s forehead.
Recently, at a campaign appearance by Schulze and her co-chair Ludwig Hartmann, a man threw a stone in their direction. There is also massive insults on social networks. Schulze’s husband, the Baden-Württemberg Finance Minister Danyal Bayaz, recently wrote on He was referring to a post about his wife. Underneath a video in which she discussed migrants with an angry citizen, racist comments could be read, including rape.
“Extremely exhausting”
When you talk to Schulze about these incidents, she seems worried. Also about her family. “It’s really exhausting for me,” she says. And yet: It is important to protect democracy every day. She learned this at her school, named after the resistance fighter Christoph Probst from the White Rose. “This attitude is my inner compass,” says Schulze.
Whenever possible, Schulze combines her appointments, which take her across Bavaria, with a visit to the local MP’s favorite ice cream parlor. Ice cream is her passion. She regularly posts pictures of herself with an ice cream cone or sundae on social networks. Even now, during the election campaign, she invites people to have a conversation over ice cream. Or for an ice cream and conversation. Schulze once said that ice cream is an icebreaker.
Schulze used to play handball. She is still a team player, now in the faction. She is someone who can inspire people and hold the group together. When Schulze appears in front of the camera or at the lectern in the state parliament, she does so with a lot of power. Most of the time she smiles and waves her hands. Especially when it comes to one of their main topics, internal security. Politicians from other factions like to gossip about Schulze’s enthusiasm. She would “like to be one step ahead,” says a CSU politician. And another describes her as a “Duracell bunny who never runs out of energy,” which is probably meant as a compliment.
The Green top duo Ludwig Hartmann and Katharina Schulze present the campaign for the state elections in Bavaria.
co-Top candidate Hartmann is the haven of peace
Ludwig Hartmann, the man at Schulze’s side in politics, is completely different. Someone who doesn’t win people over in the first minute. The Green is seen by colleagues as someone who wants to delve deeply into issues. Who often doesn’t look for the big stage, prefers to talk in peace. Preferably on energy and agricultural topics. At the citizen dialogues that Hartmann regularly hosts, he can score points with his knowledge; he reports numbers from his head.
The 45-year-old has been a member of the state parliament since 2008 and has been one of the two parliamentary group leaders since 2013. Shortly before that, he almost became Bavaria’s first green mayor. In his hometown of Landsberg am Lech he was narrowly defeated by the CSU candidate. Hartmann received 49 percent in the runoff.
“I wanted to interfere”
Hartmann came to politics rather by chance. A Kurdish family should be deported. Hartmann, then 16 years old, wanted to prevent this and organized a spontaneous demonstration in front of the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior. Because he had violated the right to assembly, the young person had to do 16 hours of community service as punishment. From then on, says Hartmann, “I wanted to get involved on all levels.”
Hartmann became a Green, not surprisingly, his parents were also in the party and fought against nuclear power, among other things. As the youngest city councilor in Landsberg, he took care of youth culture, fought for independent municipal utilities and against the deforestation of the city forest. Then as now, Hartmann fights to preserve the basis of life. “Successes like NOlympia, the referendum on species protection, gave me the energy to keep going.”
The election success of 2018 fueled expectations
If you ask Hartmann about the differences between the 2018 election campaign and the current one, he doesn’t have to think for long: “In 2018, nobody had us on their radar because we weren’t the CSU’s main political opponent. People didn’t have that high expectations of us.”
But with the electoral success of the Bavarian Greens five years ago, the party experienced an enormous upswing. Many people joined the party, wanted to get involved and were carried away by the euphoria of the Greens. It’s particularly hard for these new members now, says Hartmann. For the first time, “the wind is really blowing in our faces.” This is also due to the Greens’ participation in government in the federal government. He finds it a challenge not only to talk to people at events about federal politics, but also to direct the conversation towards Bavarian issues.
Back in January, Hartmann had set his ambitious election target as “20 percent plus a big X”. Now, shortly before the election, he doesn’t want to repeat that. He seems a bit resigned, almost humble.
In the last state election, the Bavarian Greens won almost 18 percent. The youngest ARD BayernTrend She now sees it at 15 percent and is therefore far from being able to appoint the Prime Minister. Things also look bad for government participation. CSU boss and Prime Minister Markus Söder has clearly ruled out black and green in Bavaria.
Söder and Hubert Aiwanger from the Free Voters hardly miss an opportunity to fight against the Greens or against the traffic lights in Berlin. Whether this further fuels the anti-mood and even open hatred against the Greens in Bavaria or whether it just reflects the current mood is like the question of the chicken and the egg.