As of: February 26, 2024, 5:53 p.m
By: Mike Schier
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When the late Alois Glück was parliamentary group leader of the CSU in the state parliament, the Prime Minister was called Edmund Stoiber for years.
An intense, not always easy relationship.
A conversation with the CSU honorary chairman.
Mr. Stoiber, what services does Alois Glück have for the Free State of Bavaria?
As a liberal-conservative thought leader, he has had a decisive influence on social debates in Bavaria and Germany.
He recognized and penetrated the issues and challenges like no other.
He was a political visionary who was uniquely able to find the right balance of preservation and renewal.
He was thoughtful, open to discussion, sometimes uncomfortable, but always open to good arguments.
They met in the 70s.
As young MPs, we were both fascinated by the founding of the first environment ministry in Europe by Prime Minister Alfons Goppel and by the emerging environmental policy.
We were both members of the newly founded environmental committee from the start.
As chairman of this committee, Alois Glück set the pace for new political developments.
Later you both had completely opposite roles.
You as head of government - he as corrective and voice of the powerful CSU faction.
That certainly wasn't always easy, was it?
We have formed a close unit of action.
Even though we were very different as guys, I was always very emotional, especially in political debates.
Alois Glück, on the other hand, always argued very calmly.
But even if we had completely different opinions, the collaboration was always completely trusting.
The discussions that weren't supposed to be made public always stayed with him.
Difficult conversations: Alois Glück in 2007 with Edmund Stoiber (l.) and the young CSU general Markus Söder (r.).
© Photo: dpa
Did he never become a minister because, as parliamentary group leader, he was a kind of second prime minister?
He had a huge influence.
It was an exciting time.
The austerity measures, the balanced budget, the high-tech agenda – these were difficult issues.
Alois Glück would also have been an excellent environment minister.
He recognized the importance of this topic very early on.
He is always referred to as a thought leader - and he was!
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But luck was also not uninvolved in your fall in 2007.
How do you look back on it today?
Everything comes to an end.
He believed that now is the time for a change in the Prime Minister's office.
He explained this to me calmly - and he had strong arguments.
Governing without the deep and broad trust of the group would have been to the detriment of the CSU.
That was always my standard.
There were no injuries and we stayed in touch afterwards.
Have you ever spoken out?
There was in January 2023 after the funeral of Benedict XVI.
a lunch in Rome that observers have interpreted this way.
No, that wasn't necessary at all.
We always had contact by phone.
Even if we had different opinions, we were always united by one guiding question: What's next - for the country, for society?
His close ties to the Catholic Church gave him strength to think beyond the day.
What remains?
Alois Glück has made lasting contributions to his political home CSU and to his beloved Bavaria.
With him we are losing one of the greats.
Interview: Mike Schier