Regierung: "Überwiegend gestörte, belastete Verhältnissen“ - Wie ein Forscher die deutschen Kanzler bewertet
Wo schöpfen deutsche Regierungschefs ihre Ideen? Der Wissenschaftler Peter-André Alt hat das Intellektuelle in den Kanzlern der Republik gesucht. Und beim Amtsinhaber ein Problem gefunden.
München – In the history of the Federal Republic, there lies also the story of its leaders. From the time Friedrich Merz was sworn in as Chancellor in May 2025 until now, there have been eight Chancellors and one female Chancellor. Three ruled for an impressively long period while three had short tenures. Five of them hailed from the CDU, while four came from the SPD.
Some were charismatic while others demonstrated tenacity. However, how well did they connect with the intellectual and cultural elite of a nation that had painfully emerged from the shadow of a Nazi dictatorship to become a liberal, open society? How much did Chancellors learn from their relations with philosophers, writers, publicists, scientists, and artists?
It is on this relationship work that Peter-André Alt, a 66-year-old literary scholar and historian who once served as President of the Free University of Berlin and chaired the University Rectors Conference, has focused. In his book "The Chancellors and Intellectuals" (C. H. Beck), he describes their relationships as "mostly troubled, at least stressed connections."
When asked about the insights from his five-year research into these relationships, Alt quickly concluded, "Surprises were often encountered." The rhetorically and philosophically gifted Kurt-Georg Kiesinger ("Häuptling Silberzunge") had great potential, but his understanding of spirit and culture simply did not fit the time of upheaval following 1966.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
