Bundestag election campaign: CDU revenge on Platt: Scholz a bit “bregenklöter”

After Olaf Scholz (SPD)’s “tünkram” tip against CDU leader Friedrich Merz, the CDU is coming back to Platt. Andreas Mattfeldt (CDU) from the Low German parliamentary group told the German Press Agency that he would be happy if the Low German language was heard more. “Low German is actually intended to make politics simpler, more lively and perhaps less harsh.” But his impression was that Scholz was a bit “bregenklöterich” when describing Merz, the Lower Saxon added. The word means something like “confused”.

“Fritze Merz likes to tell nonsense,” Scholz said on ZDF. Scholz was responding to criticism from Merz that the Chancellor often sits in silence at EU summits without getting involved politically.

The Low German Parliamentary District is an association in which members of parliament from various parties work to promote this language. Its founder, deputy FDP parliamentary group leader Gyde Jensen, was critical of Scholz’s statement. “Low German is a clear, direct language that often requires just a few words,” she said. “The Chancellor is known for his few words, but his statement is above all one thing: nonsense.” She would have liked a proper explanation of how the situation in the European Council actually played out. “It is not appropriate to resort to Low German as an escape.”

The SPD politician Johann Saathoff, also in the Low German parliamentary group, said that he was always happy when someone spoke Low German. “And the fact that Low German has now moved into the Chancellery is of course also a confirmation for us Low Germans.”

Saathoff explained that “Tünkram” is short for “Tüdelkram.” As an East Frisian, he would paraphrase Scholz’s statement as follows: “You may not believe everything that Friedrich di vertellen deit,” which means something like: “You may not believe everything that Friedrich tells you.”

Green politician Linda Heitmann, who is also a member of the Low German parliamentary group, said: Scholz made it clear that Low German is part of German culture. “You should talk about it,” she added. Regarding the Chancellor’s statement, she said: “I think that’s quite reasonable, then Friedrich Merz can also deal with Low German.”