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SPIEGEL editor Beyer (l.), Greens politician Habeck, SPIEGEL editor Schaible (r.) During a walk in Berlin in May
Photo: Andreas Chudowski
Anyone who wanted to meet someone in the past twelve months often did so outside. "Go for a walk" was the code word again in this second corona year. Encounters with politicians also suddenly took place in the open air. Does walking together change the way and what we talk about? We wanted to know more about that and invented a small series that we called "SPIEGEL Walks".
With the left co-party leader Susanne Hennig-Wellsow, with the Greens co-party leader Robert Habeck, with the then Minister of State for Culture Monika Grütters (CDU) and the then digital commissioner Dorothee Bär (CSU) we went through the government district. And yes: places definitely influence the emotional state of conversation partners. As we walked through the Brandenburg Gate with the East German Hennig-Wellsow, she touchingly told us how difficult the changes had been for her parents after the fall of the Berlin Wall. We walked past the Chancellery with Robert Habeck, it wasn't long ago that he had to back off when deciding to run for Chancellor - at other stations he had answered quickly and wittily, but here he was monosyllabic.
We knew and knew something else beforehand, but if you then experience it for hours, you become even more aware of the consequences: Politicians are constantly recognized and addressed, sometimes friendly, sometimes demanding, also aggressive, they avoid it, via red To go traffic lights because they know that such a scene, recorded on a cell phone video, could quickly spread across the Internet and turn against them. Personal protection is only available for a few politicians, which is one of the reasons why the political profession requires constant caution. A high price, a high risk in polarized times - do we citizens recognize enough that this price is being paid by our political representatives, we asked ourselves.
And we noticed something else: strolling, strolling does not rule out the dissent in terms of content, but calls for a relaxed tone.
This special form of journalistic conversation gives you special insights, but you lose the possibility of a confrontation.
And that means: Despite Corona, going for a walk with the protagonists of politics can only remain a nice exception for us journalists.