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German election roundup: A ‘wide-open’ race, a scandalous grilling and a Merkel teddy

With less than a week to go until Germany goes to the polls, the conservatives are confident of victory, the SPD are on the defensive, and a German toy manufacture decides to honour Merkel the only way they know how.

Published: 20 September 2021 18:32 CEST
German election roundup: A 'wide-open' race, a scandalous grilling and a Merkel teddy
The Merkel teddy. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Nicolas Armer

A reversal of fortunes?

Over the past week or, so, Bavarian state premier Markus Söder has been saying that the CDU and CSU are about to see their fortunes change. This may have been seemed like wishful thinking at first, but surely enough, in the eleventh hour, the Union has been clawing back a small – but not insignificant – amount of support in the polls.

As of Monday, Armin Laschet’s conservatives were polling at 22 points – around 1.5 points higher than last week. Meanwhile, the SPD were down one point on 25 points, and the Greens were unchanged at 15 points.

The slight turn-up for the books hasn’t just got Söder setting his sights on victory. Armin Laschet, the Union’s chancellor candidate, has also been telling the press how confident he is.

“I am firmly convinced that the Union will win this Bundestag election,” he said on Monday after a meeting with his election team in Berlin. “We are in a race to catch up, and the race is open as never before.”

While the polls have shown the former frontrunners lagging behind the SPD for a number of weeks, Laschet pointed out that around a quarter of voters still hadn’t made up their mind – meaning the race could still be wide open.

“That is why we are fighting to become the strongest political force,” he said.

Scholz gets a grilling, and the SPD are fuming

In the third ‘Triell’ between the three chancellor candidates, more than a third (42 percent) of viewer declared that the Social Democrats’ Olaf Scholz had come out as the winner. But the Finance Minister and SPD chancellor candidate continues to be plagued by an ongoing fraud investigation that has been seized upon by the CDU as a sign of his untrustworthiness.

On Monday, Scholz surprised his critics by turning up in person to answer questions posed by the Finance Committee concerning potential oversights in the anti-money laundering unit FIU.

The body, which Scholz’s ministry is indirectly responsible for, is suspected of failing to report potential wrongdoing to the relevant authorities. But, according to AFP sources, Scholz told the committee that no minister could solve all problems “at the click of a finger”. 

READ ALSO: German chancellor candidate Scholz quizzed in fraud probe

While the CDU have been making as much as they can out of the ongoing investigation, those in the SPD camp suspect their motives aren’t entirely pure. Speaking to DPA on Monday, the parliamentary secretary of the SPD parliamentary group, Carsten Schneider, said that the Union was abusing the issue for the election campaign.

“The CDU and CSU are desperately trying to construct new accusations against the federal finance minister and the SPD’s candidate for chancellor, as they no longer have the strength for a substantive debate,” he said.

German toy maker creates Merkel teddy 

She’s been an immensely popular leader for more than a decade and a half – so much so that some have termed it a bit of a personal cult. But clearly, the affection for Angela ‘Mutti’ Merkel is palpable.

For anyone who feels like they may miss having that iconic blonde bob and rhombus-shaped hand gesture in their lives after the elections, one German toy manufacturer has found the solution.


Surrounded by kings, queens and former US presidents, Merkel the bear is in good company. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Nicolas Armer

In honour of her years of political service, the Coburg-based company has created a 40cm-high teddy bear Merkel, complete with cropped hair, a red blazer, a necklace in the colours of the German flag, and – of course – the rhombus.

According to Bavarian radio station BR24, Merkel now ranks among other prominent figures such as Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth, who have also been depicted by the bear-makers.

READ ALSO: The Merkel-Raute: How a hand gesture became a brand

“We try to express contemporary historical moments in teddy bears as an art form,” managing director Martin Hermann told BR24. 

But anyone keen to get a cuddly Merkel should be warned: they don’t come cheap. Picking up a Mutti of your own will cost you around €189, the toy company said – though, of course, the Chancellor herself will be able to get one for free.

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POLITICS

ANALYSIS: What’s at stake in Germany’s eastern state elections?

After success in Thuringia and Saxony, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) may well come in first in another eastern state election this Sunday. We spoke with a political scientist to analyse what's at stake as Brandenburg goes to the polls.

Published: 19 September 2024 09:11 CEST
ANALYSIS: What's at stake in Germany's eastern state elections?

German politics’ “eastern September” is set to finally end Sunday – with more ruminations and reflections likely to come about the recent fortunes of the far-right AfD at the ballot box.

If current polls are anything to go by, the AfD could come in first in the eastern state encircling Berlin – which counts Potsdam as its capital.

After overtaking the governing Social Democrats (SPD) in a recent shock poll, the party is currently at around 28 percent, compared to the SPD on 25 percent. The centre-right Christian Democrats come in at 16 percent in the latest poll and the left-populist Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) – named after its founder – charts in at 14 percent.

The remaining parties come in much lower – with the Greens, Left and liberal Free Democrats all facing possible ejection from the state parliament.

Another victory for the AfD – or even a strong showing should the SPD still manage a narrow surprise win – will certainly boost the far-right’s confidence, after it came in first in Thuringia and second in Saxony earlier this month, following state elections that saw all three of Germany’s federally governing parties take massive losses.

Thuringia and Saxony results will likely hang over Brandenburg on Sunday – with Germany’s governing parties, many everyday Germans, and foreigners all watching with some trepidation. Here’s what to watch out for following the Brandenburg result.

READ ALSO: ‘Political earthquake’ – What the far-right AfD state election win means for Germany 

A newly confident AfD insists it must be part of government

The AfD has repeatedly argued that it must be considered as a possible coalition partner to join German governments – whether at the federal, state, or local level. 

“There are no politics without the AfD,” its co-leader Tino Chrupalla said following the Thuringia results. However, all other parties have explicitly refused to work with the AfD to form a governing coalition – meaning that as high as its results this month have been, they fall well short of the absolute majority that would be required to govern alone.

READ ALSO: ‘We need change’: Germany’s far-right eyes power after state election win

However, its getting more difficult to form coalitions to keep the AfD out, with the centre-right CDU in Thuringia even open to governing with the leftwing populist BSW after mainstream parties like the Greens and FDP were thrown out of state parliament entirely.

University of Mainz political scientist Kai Arzheimer, who specialises in the German far-right, says whether the far-right ever get into a German government or not depends mostly on whether – and how – the CDU is willing to work with the AfD.

Thuringia election results on a screen

People watch the first exit polls results for Thuringia’s state elections come in at the State Parliament in Erfurt on September 1st, 2024. Photo by Joerg CARSTENSEN / AFP

“For the time being, it should be able to form coalitions against the AfD, even if they are rather awkward,” says Arzheimer, who adds that even the different regional chapters of the CDU may have different opinions about working with the AfD.

“Within the eastern state parties of both the CDU and the FDP, there seems to be some appetite for coming to an arrangement with the AfD. While a formal coalition would probably split either party, we have already seen some tentative moves towards an informal cooperation.”

Ultimately, the Brandmauer or “firewall” concept in German politics – in which all other parties refuse to work with the AfD – may end up coming under increasing stress on the back of eastern state election results, where governing with the far-right no longer becomes unthinkable.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Could the far-right AfD ever take power in Germany?

What the mainstream parties take from eastern election results

It’s probably no coincidence that Germany’s ruling government decided to re-institute border controls at its land borders with other EU states shortly after the AfD topped the Thuringia state poll, according to Arzheimer, who says the elections are just the latest in a number of things at work when if comes to Germany’s migration debate.

“The border controls, the plans for the stricter enforcement of repatriation orders, and most of all the government’s harsher rhetoric are as much a reaction to Saxony and Thuringia as they are an attempt to control the fallout from the Solingen knife attack and a response to the whole ‘debate’ on immigration,” he says.

“Many experts seem to agree that they are neither practical nor that useful, and introducing them more or less overnight smacks of a degree of panic.”

READ ALSO: Should foreign residents in Germany be concerned about far-right AfD win?

Polls conducted following the election found that migration and internal security issues were big drivers of the AfD vote – despite these being issues for the national, rather than regional, government. 

Of the AfD voters in Thuringia, more than 70 percent said either migration or crime and internal security played the largest role in influencing their vote. Slightly less than ten percent said social security. Despite the AfD’s pro-Russian views, only three percent of AfD voters in Thuringia said Germany’s support of Ukraine decisively influenced their votes.

Besides the mainstream parties like the SPD reacting with spur-of-the-moment migration policies, the Brandenburg result may end up putting pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz from within his own SPD.

Brandenburg SPD’s Dietmar Woidke may still be able to hold onto the premiership, but he has said he will resign if he doesn’t beat the AfD outright. Should he lose, calls may grow louder within the SPD for Scholz to resign himself – or at least declare that he won’t stand as a chancellor candidate again.

READ ALSO: How an explosive row over immigration has divided Germany

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