{"id":13588,"date":"2021-11-25T11:24:11","date_gmt":"2021-11-25T11:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=13588"},"modified":"2021-11-25T11:24:28","modified_gmt":"2021-11-25T11:24:28","slug":"germany-almost-has-a-new-chancellor-but-who-is-he","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/germany-almost-has-a-new-chancellor-but-who-is-he\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany almost has a new chancellor. But who is Olaf Scholz?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month, I wrote about the\u00a0Ampel<\/em> (traffic light)<\/a> that was likely coming to Germany. This isn’t an actual traffic light, but rather a coalition of three political parties: the SPD, Greens and FDP. They now concluded their coalition talks and presented their coalition – including a new\u00a0Bundeskanzler\u00a0<\/em>(m, federal chancellor) – Angela Merkel<\/a>‘s successor. After 16 years, Germany is seeing a change at the helm of government. All that’s left now is for the coalition parties and parliament to confirm this new coalition<\/a>. So it’s time to look at Olaf Scholz and ask: Who is this guy, and what will he mean for Germany?<\/p>\n

Years of political experience<\/strong><\/h1>\n
\"Olaf<\/a>

Image by fsHH at Pixabay.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Born on June 14, 1958 in Osnabr\u00fcck, Scholz moved to Hamburg as a child, and that’s where he grew up. His parents worked in the\u00a0Textilbranche\u00a0<\/em>(textile industry). After finishing high school, he continued with legal studies and went on to become a Partner<\/em> (partner) in die Anwaltskanzlei <\/em>(law firm). While he was\u00a0getauft\u00a0<\/em>(baptized), he later left the evangelical church.<\/p>\n

His political career starts in 1975, when he joins the youth organization of the SPD, the Junge Sozialisten\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0Jusos\u00a0<\/em>(Young Socialists). In his time, he visited socialist East Germany on multiple occasions, meeting with the SED, the party governing the GDR.<\/p>\n

Since 1994, Scholz has held a number of\u00a0politische \u00c4mter\u00a0<\/em>(n, political offices). From\u00a0Kreisvorsitzender\u00a0<\/em>(district chairman) to\u00a0Parteivorsitzender\u00a0<\/em>(party chairman) of the SPD, he’s done a lot in those 25 years. From 2007 to 2009, he served as Bundesminister f\u00fcr Arbeit und Soziales <\/em>(Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs). He then moved on to become Erster B\u00fcrgermeister\u00a0<\/em>(First Mayor) of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018, only to return to the federal stage in 2018 as the Bundesfinanzminister\u00a0<\/em>(Federal Finance Minister, Secretary of the Treasury).<\/p>\n

So he’s been a politician for more than two decades now, with experience in a variety of public \u00c4mter.\u00a0<\/em>In 2020, he was elected by his party as the\u00a0Kanzlerkandidat<\/em><\/a> for the 2021 elections<\/a>. And that was a good move – after disappointing election results in the past, the SPD became the biggest party<\/a>, paving the way to the\u00a0Kanzleramt\u00a0<\/em>(Office of the Chancellery) for Olaf Scholz.<\/p>\n

What is Scholz known for?<\/strong><\/h1>\n