The European elections didn't turn out well for Germany's Social Democrats. SPIEGEL spoke with Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück about the SPD's chances in German elections this autumn, his party's chancellor candidate and Chancellor Merkel's leadership. SPIEGEL: Mr. Steinbrück, we would like to talk to you in your capacity as one of the deputy leaders of the Social Democrats (SPD). Steinbrück: That's what I thought. SPIEGEL: If the SPD were a department store, where would it be now? On the verge of bankruptcy or would it already have filed? German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück says that the Social Democrats still have a chance in September general elections. Steinbrück: I think the comparison between the SPD and department store is grotesque. SPIEGEL: We don't think so. In the European parliamentary election, the SPD captured a meager 20.8 percent of the vote. Your party's business model seems to be out of date, not unlike the situation at Karstadt. Steinbrück: Department stores on the whole, my friends, aren't out of fashion, and neither is the SPD. There are some very successful department stores, such as Galeries Lafayettes in France or Harrods in England. Much of what went wrong at Karstadt was the result of management errors.
The European elections didn't turn out well for Germany's Social Democrats. SPIEGEL spoke with Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück about the SPD's chances in German elections this autumn, his party's chancellor candidate and Chancellor Merkel's leadership.
SPIEGEL: Mr. Steinbrück, we would like to talk to you in your capacity as one of the deputy leaders of the Social Democrats (SPD).
Steinbrück: That's what I thought.
SPIEGEL: If the SPD were a department store, where would it be now? On the verge of bankruptcy or would it already have filed?
German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück says that the Social Democrats still have a chance in September general elections. Steinbrück: I think the comparison between the SPD and department store is grotesque.
SPIEGEL: We don't think so. In the European parliamentary election, the SPD captured a meager 20.8 percent of the vote. Your party's business model seems to be out of date, not unlike the situation at Karstadt.
Steinbrück: Department stores on the whole, my friends, aren't out of fashion, and neither is the SPD. There are some very successful department stores, such as Galeries Lafayettes in France or Harrods in England. Much of what went wrong at Karstadt was the result of management errors.
As Germany's center-left Social Democrats lose footing in the run-up to national elections, the Greens are profiting from the party's crisis. In many major cities, it has already risen to become the second-biggest political party. Last week, Germany's Green Party became the first political party in Berlin to send out its messages out to the capital city over Internet radio, broadcasting around the clock. It seems party officials never run out of things to say. German member of parliament Hans-Christian Ströbele: The country's Green Party has succeeded in recent years in attracting both alternative and well as affluent voters. During the day, Green politicians from the city's many districts and from Berlin's government can have their say through various programs, interviews and reports. At night, the station is devoted to music, in a mix of styles that says a lot about the party's urban constituents. Jazz and country music get airtime, as do classic left-wing German singers such as Hannes Wader and Ernst Busch and protest songs from all different eras. "We do a program around green issues and a green attitude to life," says local politician Frank Dittrich, who oversees the radio project. These green radio waves are the party's most recent attempt to bridge the gap between different segments of its electorate. On the one hand are the party's long-time constituents, such as granola-eating peaceniks in Kreuzberg, a district of Berlin long known for its counterculture. On the other are more newly arrived Berliners -- social climbers who have spread into up and coming neighborhoods like Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg, bringing a good deal of money but a bad conscience.
As Germany's center-left Social Democrats lose footing in the run-up to national elections, the Greens are profiting from the party's crisis. In many major cities, it has already risen to become the second-biggest political party.
Last week, Germany's Green Party became the first political party in Berlin to send out its messages out to the capital city over Internet radio, broadcasting around the clock. It seems party officials never run out of things to say.
German member of parliament Hans-Christian Ströbele: The country's Green Party has succeeded in recent years in attracting both alternative and well as affluent voters. During the day, Green politicians from the city's many districts and from Berlin's government can have their say through various programs, interviews and reports. At night, the station is devoted to music, in a mix of styles that says a lot about the party's urban constituents. Jazz and country music get airtime, as do classic left-wing German singers such as Hannes Wader and Ernst Busch and protest songs from all different eras. "We do a program around green issues and a green attitude to life," says local politician Frank Dittrich, who oversees the radio project.
These green radio waves are the party's most recent attempt to bridge the gap between different segments of its electorate. On the one hand are the party's long-time constituents, such as granola-eating peaceniks in Kreuzberg, a district of Berlin long known for its counterculture. On the other are more newly arrived Berliners -- social climbers who have spread into up and coming neighborhoods like Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg, bringing a good deal of money but a bad conscience.
