Eine enttäuschte Liebe zur CDU und ein Streit über die AfD. Mit Waldemar Hartmann

For decades he was the face of major football tournaments on German television, but today Waldemar Hartmann primarily attracts attention with his political comments. The conversation with Gordon Repinski is about the deep disappointment of a long-time CSU voter about Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the future of the Union. Hartmann describes his alienation from the CDU, criticizes what he sees as a lack of political consistency and defends the call to engage in greater dialogue with AfD voters.

The conversation repeatedly develops into a debate about democratic participation, political representation, how to deal with AfD voters and the question of how parties should react to growing discontent. The second half of the conversation is about football, the World Cup in the summer and big moments in his sports journalist career: from the 1990 World Cup to current debates about the German national team. The Berlin Playbook is available as a podcast at 5 a.m. Gordon Repinski and the POLITICO team bring you up to date on politics every morning - compact, European, in-depth. And for all capital city professionals: Our Berlin Playbook newsletter delivers the most important topics and classifications every morning. You can find all the information and the free Playbook subscription here. More from Berlin Playbook host and POLITICO Executive Editor in Germany, Gordon Repinski, can also be found here: Instagram: @gordon.repinski | X: @GordonRepinski . POLITICO Germany - an offer from Axel Springer Deutschland GmbH Axel-Springer-Straße 65, 10888 Berlin Tel: +49 (30) 2591 0 ⁠information@axelspringer.de⁠ Registered office: District Court of Berlin-Charlottenburg, HRB 196159 B VAT ID number: DE 214 852 390 Managing Director: Carolin Hulshoff Pol, Mathias Sanchez Luna

Key points

• The conversation repeatedly develops into a debate about democratic participation, political representation, how to deal with AfD voters and the question of how parties should react to growing disc…
• The second half of the conversation is about football, the World Cup in the summer and big moments in his sports journalist career: from the 1990 World Cup to current debates about the German natio…
• The Berlin Playbook is available as a podcast at 5 a.m.
• Gordon Repinski and the POLITICO team bring you up to date on politics every morning - compact, European, in-depth.
• And for all capital city professionals: Our Berlin Playbook newsletter delivers the most important topics and classifications every morning.