Contrary to the pre -election races in many other countries, in Germany the privacy of candidates is rarely at the heart of interest. But this year things seem to be slightly different.

Robert Habek of the Greens had to take a stand on the charges against him, how he had a plagiarism during his doctorate, while Alice Weidel was repeatedly asked about her love life and had to explain her taxpayer .

But what do we ultimately know about the lives of the candidates for the Chancellor?

Salts and Mertz have similar tastes

Overfy Saltz and Friedrich Mertz have quite a few in common points in their privacy. Both were politicized early, but none of them were exclusively active in the political arena. On the contrary, they studied law and worked for a while as lawyers. Both have been married for years – we know a few things for their weddings.

Both Saltz and Mertz enjoy jazz music – though the current Chancellor tells Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) that he likes “and classical music, pop and rock”. In addition to their work, the two politicians want to live more comfortable, wearing for example jeans and a plaid shirt.

Of course, many doubts whether the “cool” image that politicians show out is in fact. For Mertz, for example, it is well known that “during his break from politics he was found on boards of large multinational businesses, that he has a private jet (or two according to some reports) and that his property is estimated at 12 million euros (but However, 2018 was one of the “upper middle class”), “Faz recalls.

Saltz on the other hand likes to be presented as a… intellectual. In many interviews, the Social Democratic politician has been extensively mentioned in how much he likes literature, the genres of books he enjoys (from French literature to police and comics) and the authors he likes most, such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Bovar and Albert Cammy.

The multi -way Mr. Habek

Of all the candidates for the Chancellor the Robert Habek It is he who highlights his privacy – uploading videos to Tiktok and Instagram, where he appears in casual dressing, a shirt or a sweater, cooking and jogging.

Habek has the image of an educated but at the same time a relaxed man, who is multi -faceted and has many interests, but is still an “average man”. And in this way it embodies the ideal of the average voter of the Greens.

Alice Weidel’s special case

Alice Weidel’s personal life is known. But what we know raises many questions – mainly about the compatibility of her privacy and public life, about whether Videl is privately serving what she publicly supports.

Videl was born in 1979, did a doctorate in finance, lived in China for a few years and worked as a bank investor – at least at first glance he gives the impression “that he belongs to the globalized elite, exactly what he presents as an AfD enemy” Faz. Even more surprising is the fact that she resides in Switzerland, she has a female companion – who even comes from Sri Lanka – and with her two children raise. So all of this contradicts the “traditional values” promoted by AfD, latent xenophobia and obsession with the homeland?

“According to Weidel no. Her party does not want to restrict homosexual rights and the trained immigrants are still welcome, “Faz writes. “And in reality there is nothing in the AfD electoral program that clearly contradicts what Videl does in her privacy.”

At the same time, of course, Videl does not obviously have a family in the standards of the definition of AfD (“Father, Mother and Children”), while the party’s references to the trained immigrants are accompanied by a series of “but”. And in any case there are the statements and rhetoric adopted by each party – and when AfD members use expressions such as “genderwahn” (for those who “nourish illusions” in gender issues) or have plans for mass deportations, difficult to convince How “they are of particular interest to different sexual preferences or biographies of immigrants,” concludes FAZ.