For his fans he is the conservative savior of the CDU, for his opponents a man of yesterday: Friedrich Merz has been polarizing since he first applied for the CDU chairmanship in 2018.
He has failed twice since then.
Now, on the third attempt, he has won a membership decision and is to be elected CDU chairman in January.
Finally at the goal, the future CDU leader Friedrich Merz suddenly seems to be someone else, looks sociable, liberal, almost modern.
"I am a person who likes to get up in a good mood in the morning, and I would also like to transfer that a little to the CDU," he says.
Merz has become more cautious, more patient, sending signals that one would have expected from others.
Is that just a tactic?
SPIEGEL editor Veit Medick accompanied Merz on his comeback.
In the podcast he explains how you can recognize the new Merz.
How he fights against his old image and what is behind this transformation.
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