What began as a fight over broadcasting fees has escalated into a crisis that could end Saxony-Anhalt's government. The state's interior minister was fired over an interview that undermined bids to salvage the coalition.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H. Schmidt
Advertisement
A political crisis has erupted in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt that could see the state's governing coalition collapse.
Tensions came to a head on Friday when State Premier Reiner Haseloff fired his interior minister, Holger Stahlknecht, over remarks he had made to the press.
Haseloff is a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and is in a governing coalition with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the environmentalist Greens.
Later on Friday, Stahlknecht quit his post as the leader of the CDU in Saxony-Anhalt.
Advertisement
How did the fight begin?
The spat concerns a planned raise in Germany's public broadcasting fees, the Runkdfunkbeitrag or "licensing fee." The fee is set to be increased by 86 cents with households in Germany set to pay €18.36 ($22.30) per month in the future.
Some CDU state lawmakers as well as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) have opposed the raise. Their votes would be enough to block the measure when it comes up for a vote in the state's parliament later this month.
CDU opponents to the increase are pushing for the state to renegotiate its public service broadcasting contract and are calling for reforms, more savings as well as assurances that public service broadcasters will focus more on eastern German concerns.
Ten reasons and more for Magdeburg
The state capital of Saxony-Anhalt is more than 1200 years old: Emperors gave it its early splendor, wars have destroyed it twice. Communist East German rule also left its mark. An exciting mix!
Image: picture-alliance/imagebroker/A. Vitting
Magdeburg - City on the Elbe
The Elbe River is the lifeline of Magdeburg. A trading base was established on its flat banks very early on and was first mentioned in a document in 805. When Emperor Otto I made Magdeburg an archbishopric in 968, the city's rise to becoming an important trade and cultural metropolis began.
Image: Geduldig/imageBROKER/picture-alliance
The Golden Horseman - a highlight from the Middle Ages
The Magdeburg Horseman on the Old Market Square dates from the 13th century and likely depicts Otto I (912-973), the emperor to whom the city owes so much. As a favorite palatinate, Otto the Great made Magdeburg practically the first capital of the Holy Roman Empire. Otto also had the first cathedral built in which his grave can still be found today.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Wolf
The Cathedral - Masterpiece of the Gothic era
In the 950s the foundation stone for the first Romanesque cathedral was laid. After a devastating fire in 1207, the cathedral was rebuilt in a Gothic style. Following its consecration in 1363, Magdeburg Cathedral is the oldest Gothic cathedral on German soil.
Image: Schwenke/MMKT/AndreasLander.de
Monastery of Our Lady
Also a testimony to the Middle Ages: the Monastery of Our Lady. Today it houses the city's art museum and the Georg Friedrich Telemann concert hall. It was named after the famous baroque composer who was born in Magdeburg in 1681. The Telemann Festival takes place every two years in his honor.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Lander
The Magdeburg hemispheres - a technical spectacle
This sculpture is reminiscent of a great spectacle: In 1661, 16 horses tried in vain to tear apart two brass hemispheres emptied of air. With this experiment, the mayor of Magdeburg, Otto von Guericke, demonstrated the force of the air pressure that pressed the hemispheres together. Today the University of Magdeburg bears Guericke's name.
Image: Peter Gercke/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB/picture-alliance
Risen from ruins
Only a few traces of this illustrious past marks the cityscape today due to the fact that Magdeburg was twice razed to the ground: In 1631 during the Thirty Years' War, and in 1945 during the Second World War. The the city center today is characterized by sober, functional buildings constructed during the Communist East German era, and in the years after German reunification.
Image: Dietz Schwiesau
The "Stalinallee" of Magdeburg
After the Second World War, the newly founded East Germany also built a Stalin Alley in Magdeburg based on the Soviet model. In the so-called "confectioner's style," a business and parade street for large-scale rallies was created. Today it bears the name of the former mayor during the Weimar Republic, Ernst Reuter, and is one of the most important traffic arteries in the city center.
Image: Dietz Schwiesau
The Green Citadel of Magdeburg
The Green Citadel sets a colorful tone in the city center. It is the last and largest project of the architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928 - 2000). His design for an "oasis for humanity and for nature in a sea of rational houses" initially polarized the people of Magdeburg. Today the colorful landmark is a popular photo motif.
Image: Robert B. Fishman/picture-alliance
Town hall in the Rothehornpark - Modernism in Magdeburg
One hundred years ago, when the principles of the Bauhaus revolutionized architecture, the city developed its own "Magdeburg Modernism" style. One example is the Stadthalle in Rothehornpark, built in 1927, which is now a venue for concerts and sporting events. The structure is currently undergoing an extensive renovation.
Image: Andreas Lander/dpa/picture-alliance
A trip to the countryside? No problem!
13 percent of Magdeburg's city area consists of gardens and parks. In addition to the large green recreation areas such as the Rothehorn City Park (pictured) and the Elbauenpark, many smaller parks contribute to the quality of life for Magdeburg's residents.
Image: Andreas Lander
The Millennium Tower in Elbauenpark
This unusual structure was built in 1999 for the Federal Garden Exhibition and is one of the world's largest wooden structures with a height of 60 meters (197 ft.). With 250 displays, 150 of which visitors can try out for themselves, the exhibition in the tower brings 6000 years of human and technological history to life.
Image: Jens Wolf/dpa/picture-alliance
The Waterway Junction - inspirational technology!
At 918 meters (3012 ft.) it is the longest canal bridge in Europe. It carries the Mittelland Canal across the Elbe. The waterway junction was one of the most ambitious and expensive projects (2.3 billion euros/2.73 US dollars) of German reunification. Since its completion in 2003, ships have been able to travel from the Rhine in the west of Germany to the Oder in the east.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Lander
A state capital with ambitions
There are surely more beautiful cities — but it is the many scars and shifting styles that make Magdeburg so interesting. There remains visible traces of 1200 years of history, as with many additions in the three decades since German reunification. The old, young city of Magdeburg is applying for "European Capital of Culture 2025" status, with the decision to be announced on October 28, 2020.
Image: Andreas Lander
13 images1 | 13
The SPD and the Greens have said if the measure is vetoed, they could pull out of the coalition government, causing it to collapse.
Why was the interior minister fired?
Haseloff's dismissal of the interior minister, and Stahlknecht's subsequent resignation as party leader, only served to reinforce rumors of a power struggle within the CDU.
The state premier's office said the decision to dismiss Stahlknecht, who is also a member of the CDU, came after he remarked to the press that the CDU could continue to rule in a minority government — which would likely require the support of the AfD — should the other coalition partners pull out.
That directly contradicted Haseloff's position, and prompted speculation of potential insurrection on Stahlknecht's part.
He also said the CDU's position on the broadcasting fees had been clearly communicated and "would not change" just because the AfD happened to agree with it.
On a national scale, the CDU has a zero tolerance policy for cooperation with the AfD. But in eastern states where the AfD is stronger, avoiding this has proven more difficult. Stahlknecht sought to argue that agreeing on an individual issue need not constitute cooperation.
Stahlknecht's firing has raised speculation of a CDU power struggleImage: picture-alliance/dpa/K.-D. Gabbert
What are the consequences?
Saxony-Anhalt is due to hold its state parliamentary elections on June 6 next year, but the current political upheaval means an early election is likely.
An early election could be politically problematic. The latest polls show a rise in support for the far-right AfD, putting it in second place, while the CDU and SPD have seen their figures drop.
An early election could also pose logistical problems during the coronavirus pandemic, as cases are expected to continue rising through the winter months.
The hang-up in Saxony-Anhalt has also delayed the implementation of the public broadcasting fees nationwide, as all of Germany's 16 states must agree to the measures before they can go into effect.
