Friedrich Merz to Helmut Schmidt – The bizarre nicknames of German politicians

“Fritze Merz likes to tell nonsense” – some people may have thought they had misheard him. A frontal attack on the political opponent, coupled with Hanseatic tongue-lashing – you could almost think that Helmut Schmidt is still sitting (and smoking) in the Chancellery. But no, this swipe came from Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

In any case, the Union was stunned. “I beg your pardon for the Chancellor to describe and attack me personally in this way. But this is obviously a pattern that we are now seeing,” explained Friedrich Merz in the same issue of the ZDF “heute journal”. It remains to be seen whether this nickname will actually stick with him. One thing is certain: He is not the first German politician to receive a nickname. Whether from the press, political opponents or their own party friends: In the past, some statesmen and women had to cope with being given a less than flattering alias.

Whether it’s Konrad Adenauer, “the old man”, Ludwig Erhard, “the fat one” or Helmut Kohl, the “pear” – some disrespects have outlasted their holders’ time in office. But there are also positive examples. Kurt Georg Kiesinger was christened “King Silver Tongue” because of his brilliant rhetoric, and Helmut Schmidt was christened “Schmidt Schnauze” because of his quick-wittedness in speech duels. And Angela Merkel developed from “Kohl’s girl” to a caring “mom.”

In the photo series you can see disrespectful, respectful and almost forgotten nicknames of German politicians since the founding of the Federal Republic.