Icon: enlarge
CDU politician Merz at the party conference in Berlin in January: Cautious withdrawal movements
Photo: Odd Anderson / Reuters
Friedrich Merz went underground.
No appearance, no interviews, instead vacation in your own holiday home.
According to reports, he rides a racing bike and speaks to friends on the phone.
Merz wanted to be silent for a while, it is said.
The party, he is said to have told confidants, was "worn out," strained by the long competition for the chairmanship.
Everyone in the CDU would have to take a deep breath now.
He anyway.
The defeat in the election of the party leader hurts him, but above all it hurts his camp, the conservatives and economic liberals in the CDU, all those who wanted to make the party more edgy and contentious, who have long dreamed of an anti-Merkel world , from a new beginning.
The Merz wing tried to overthrow twice, in 2018 and now in January.
He failed twice, and there won't be a third opportunity anytime soon.
Suddenly those who wanted the Sauerland at the top have to come to terms with reality.
With Armin Laschet, the new party leader, whom some see as a copy of Angela Merkel.
Your own hero, Friedrich Merz, 65 years old, may soon no longer play a role in the party.
And if Merz should be gone, so the fear, then the entire wing would finally lose influence.
Read more with Spiegel Plus
More perspectives, more understanding.
Your advantages with SPIEGEL +
Icon: Check
SPIEGEL as a magazine
as an app, e-paper and on the e-reader
Icon: Check
All articles on SPIEGEL.de
Exclusive texts for SPIEGEL + readers
Icon: Check
Try one month for free
Cancel anytime online
A price
only € 19.99 per month
One month for € 0.00
Try now for 0.00 € Buy nowArrow to the right
Already have a digital subscription? Register here
Restore iTunes subscription
SPIEGEL + is processed via your iTunes account and paid for with a purchase confirmation.
24 hours before it expires, the subscription is automatically renewed by one month at the current price of € 19.99.
You can cancel the subscription at any time in the settings of your iTunes account.
In order to use SPIEGEL + outside of this app, you have to link the subscription to a SPIEGEL ID account immediately after purchase.
With the purchase you accept our general terms and conditions and privacy policy.
