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Peter Fahrenholz and Mike Szymanski, Munich
Many factors play a role in the stability of a party and its self-esteem. The most important yardstick is of course the election results. But the continuity at the top also says a lot about the inner state. If you do not count the short phases of interim solutions, the SPD has worn out 13 party leaders since German reunification. Actually even 14, because Franz Müntefering was at the top twice. Since then, the CDU has had five chairmen, the CSU four.