{"id":12918,"date":"2021-04-29T18:36:02","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T18:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=12918"},"modified":"2021-04-29T18:36:33","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T18:36:33","slug":"curious-german-words-die-k-frage-kanzler-chancellor-merkel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/curious-german-words-die-k-frage-kanzler-chancellor-merkel\/","title":{"rendered":"Curious German Words: Die K-Frage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Like I wrote in a previous post, Germany is going through a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/why-2021-is-germanys-super-year-superwahljahr\/\"><em>Superwahljahr\u00a0<\/em>(n, \u201cSuper election year\u201d, a year with many regional and national elections)<\/a>. A year like that comes with its own lingo, of course. Let\u2019s look at a word that was pretty relevant this past week in this regard:\u00a0<em>Die K-Frage\u00a0<\/em>(f, the K-question). Mysterious, right?<\/p>\n<h1><em><strong>Laschet vs Baerbock<\/strong><\/em><\/h1>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"tagesthemen-EXTRA: K-Frage in der Union\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vCDroJzIFGg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>For months now, the currently governing party,\u00a0<em>die Union\u00a0<\/em>(the Union) of CDU and the Bavarian CSU, has been in a struggle about the\u00a0<em>K-Frage<\/em>. Is it going to be Armin Laschet, a <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/karneval-%e2%80%93-carnival\/\">carnival-loving<\/a>\u00a0North-Rhine Westphalian? Or Markus S\u00f6der, the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/why-bavaria-party-supports-scottish-independence\/\">Bavaria-loving<\/a> Bavarian?<\/p>\n<p>They finally got their answer &#8211; just last week, on April 20, the result was in: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zdf.de\/nachrichten\/politik\/union-kanzlerkandidatur-soeder-laschet-100.html\">Laschet becomes the\u00a0<em>Kanzlerkandidat<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The SPD has Olaf Scholz. The Greens elected <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zdf.de\/nachrichten\/politik\/k-frage-union-gruene-kommentar-100.html\">Annalena Baerbock<\/a>. Both without much upheaval. So what is that\u00a0<em>K-Frage<\/em>?<\/p>\n<h1><strong>A Fight For Power<\/strong><\/h1>\n<div id=\"attachment_12923\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone post-item__attachment\"><a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/fLIECS2h5AU\" aria-label=\"Tobias FLIECS2h5AU Unsplash 1024x678\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12923\" class=\"size-large wp-image-12923\"  alt=\"Kanzler Kanzlerkandidat chancellor German politics\" width=\"1024\" height=\"678\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/tobias-fLIECS2h5AU-unsplash-1024x678.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/tobias-fLIECS2h5AU-unsplash-1024x678.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/tobias-fLIECS2h5AU-unsplash-350x232.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/tobias-fLIECS2h5AU-unsplash-768x509.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/tobias-fLIECS2h5AU-unsplash-1536x1018.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/tobias-fLIECS2h5AU-unsplash.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-12923\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The seat of the German chancellor in Berlin. Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@herrzett?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\">Tobias<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\">Unsplash<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0<em>K-Frage<\/em>. It\u2019s the question of the <em>K<\/em> &#8211; short for\u00a0<em>Kanzler<\/em> (Chancellor), which is what we Germans call our prime minister. But this isn\u2019t, as it may suggest, the election for the\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/how-the-german-word-frauleindisappeared\/\">KanzlerIn<\/a><\/em>, but for the\u00a0<em>KanzlerkandidatIn<\/em> (Chancellor candidate).<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s still early days for the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/why-2021-is-germanys-super-year-superwahljahr\/\">national elections<\/a> in Germany, which are scheduled for September 26. However, the parties (especially the big ones) need to get an idea of who they\u2019ll pose as their candidate for the chancellory. These\u00a0<em>KanzlerkandidatInnen\u00a0<\/em>are also known as the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/how-or-what-is-a-spitzenkandidat\/\"><em>Spitzenkandidaten\u00a0<\/em>(\u201ctop candidates\u201d)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And that is the\u00a0<em>Kanzlerfrage<\/em>, or\u00a0<em>K-Frage<\/em> &#8211;\u00a0<em>Wer wird unser(e) KanzlerkandidatIn<\/em>? (Who will be our chancellor candidate?) The parties that have a real shot at winning the election are asking this question. However, the rules to become\u00a0<em>KanzlerkandidatIn <\/em>aren\u2019t\u00a0clear cut &#8211; because it\u2019s nothing official.<\/p>\n<p>The position is usually given to a high-ranking member in a party who is elected on a\u00a0<em>Parteitag\u00a0<\/em>(m, party convention).<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<em>Bundeskanzler\u00a0<\/em>isn\u2019t elected directly by the people, like the US president. The people elect the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/the-german-haushaltswoche-part-1-record-debt\/\"><em>Bundestag<\/em>, the German house of representatives<\/a>, and this house, in turn, elects the\u00a0<em>Bundeskanzler\u00a0<\/em>from their ranks. This is normally the\u00a0<em>KanzlerkandidatIn\u00a0<\/em>of the party that received most votes in the election.<\/p>\n<h1><strong>So if it is not an official position, what\u2019s the point?<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Armin Laschet erkl\u00e4rt. Der n\u00e4chste Bundeskanzler?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QOnel4W34So?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Well, by electing a\u00a0<em>KanzlerkandidatIn<\/em>, voters know who is likely to become their next prime minister. By voting for the party of that candidate, they increase their chances of becoming the next\u00a0<em>Bundeskanzler<\/em>, too! So a vote is also support for the\u00a0<em>KanzlerkandidatIn<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest job for the\u00a0<em>KanzlerkanidatIn\u00a0<\/em>before the election, then, is to campaign and gain the public\u2019s favor. That\u2019s not an easy task, but having a likeable, charismatic person at the top helps!<\/p>\n<p>At this point, you might feel like this is eerily familiar to the American presidential election. And that\u2019s because it is. The <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/der-geschichte-vom-tag-der-arbeit\/\">SPD<\/a> became the first German party to elect a\u00a0<em>Kanzlerkandidat\u00a0<\/em>in 1960, inspired by the presidential campaign by John F Kennedy.<\/p>\n<p>There is more intrigue and discussion about how such a\u00a0<em>KanzlerkanidatIn\u00a0<\/em>is elected, which you can listen to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swr.de\/swr2\/wissen\/die-k-frage-wie-wird-man-kanzlerkandidat-swr2-wissen-2021-01-15-100.html\">here<\/a>:<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-12918-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/avdlswr-a.akamaihd.net\/swr\/swr2\/wissen\/sendungen\/wissen\/swr2wissen-20210115-die-k-frage-wie-wird-man-kanzlerkandidat.m.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/avdlswr-a.akamaihd.net\/swr\/swr2\/wissen\/sendungen\/wissen\/swr2wissen-20210115-die-k-frage-wie-wird-man-kanzlerkandidat.m.mp3\">https:\/\/avdlswr-a.akamaihd.net\/swr\/swr2\/wissen\/sendungen\/wissen\/swr2wissen-20210115-die-k-frage-wie-wird-man-kanzlerkandidat.m.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>If you have a hard time following the audio file, you can also read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swr.de\/swr2\/wissen\/die-k-frage-wie-wird-man-kanzlerkandidat-swr2-wissen-2021-01-15-102.pdf\">the transcript alongside it<\/a>. Great practice for your German!<\/p>\n<h1><strong>Just one\u00a0<em>K-Frage<\/em>? Oh, there\u2019s more!<\/strong><\/h1>\n<div id=\"attachment_12926\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone post-item__attachment\"><a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/3l3F3aVUbx8\" aria-label=\"Manuel Hoster 3l3F3aVUbx8 Unsplash 1024x683\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12926\" class=\"size-large wp-image-12926\"  alt=\"K-Frage Footbal Kanzler Politics K Question\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/manuel-hoster-3l3F3aVUbx8-unsplash-1024x683.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/manuel-hoster-3l3F3aVUbx8-unsplash-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/manuel-hoster-3l3F3aVUbx8-unsplash-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/manuel-hoster-3l3F3aVUbx8-unsplash-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/manuel-hoster-3l3F3aVUbx8-unsplash-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/manuel-hoster-3l3F3aVUbx8-unsplash.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-12926\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@manuelhoster?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\">Manuel Hoster<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/s\/photos\/fu%C3%9Fball?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\">Unsplash<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0<em>K-Frage\u00a0<\/em>is most commonly associated with the<em> Kanzlerkandidatur<\/em>, like explained above. However, the\u00a0<em>K\u00a0<\/em>can stand for more than just <em>Kanzler<\/em>, of course.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<em>K-Frage\u00a0<\/em>can also be asked after the national elections. Then it is the question of the\u00a0<em>Koalition\u00a0<\/em>(coalition). Who will govern with whom?<\/p>\n<p>The question can also be raised in sports. For example, who is to be the\u00a0<em>Anf\u00fchrer <\/em>(m, leader)\u00a0of the German\u00a0<em>Fu\u00dfballnationalmannschaft\u00a0<\/em>(f, national football team). The player that gets to be at the helm of the team is also called the\u00a0<em>Kapit\u00e4n\u00a0<\/em>(m, captain). But who gets this important position? Another\u00a0<em>K-Frage<\/em>!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Have you heard of the<em> K-Frage\u00a0<\/em>before? Let me know in the comments below!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"233\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/manuel-hoster-3l3F3aVUbx8-unsplash-350x233.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"K-Frage Footbal Kanzler Politics K Question\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/manuel-hoster-3l3F3aVUbx8-unsplash-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/manuel-hoster-3l3F3aVUbx8-unsplash-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/manuel-hoster-3l3F3aVUbx8-unsplash-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/manuel-hoster-3l3F3aVUbx8-unsplash-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/manuel-hoster-3l3F3aVUbx8-unsplash.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>Like I wrote in a previous post, Germany is going through a\u00a0Superwahljahr\u00a0(n, \u201cSuper election year\u201d, a year with many regional and national elections). A year like that comes with its own lingo, of course. Let\u2019s look at a word that was pretty relevant this past week in this regard:\u00a0Die K-Frage\u00a0(f, the K-question). Mysterious, right? Laschet&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/curious-german-words-die-k-frage-kanzler-chancellor-merkel\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":12926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,179,122,147,376076],"tags":[503854,358428,551762,376026],"class_list":["post-12918","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-news","category-politics","category-sports","category-vocabulary","tag-curious-words","tag-german-politics","tag-politics","tag-sports"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12918"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12928,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12918\/revisions\/12928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}