Is the powerful Minister of Finance of Germany in his head? – Politico

“When someone concentrates all power in his hands, then of course, this person will be held responsible for his mistakes,” said a SPD politician, speaking under the cover of anonymity to discuss internal party issues. In the past, Klingbeil could always blame the party’s failures on others – including the unpopularity of Olaf Scholz – said the parliamentarian. But now added the parliamentarian, Klingbeil is “the one who has to deliver”.

‘On the edge of the cliff’

The son of a retail soldier and clerk, Klingbeil grew up in the military city of Munster, in northern Germany, which houses one of the largest bases in the German army. Disapprising the hierarchical nature of the army, he was one of the few men in his high school class to give up military service.

On the contrary, Klingbeil played guitar in growing rock groups, including one called PflaumenmusOr “Plum Jam”, and has already joked by saying that he wanted to be a punk-rock star, but “in a way no one else wanted it.” The Minister of Finance always keeps his guitars at hand in his home and his office, and playing them, he said one day: “It is for me as meditation.”

Klingbeil, on his own, was the first person of his family to go to university, studying political science in Hanover. For a passage, he carried out an internship in a foundation affiliated with SPD in Manhattan, where he witnessed the September 11 attacks, an experience, he said, which aroused long-term interest in the security policy.

Klingbeil entered the German Parliament for the first time at the age of 27 with a eyebrow ring. He was able to make his way in the rows of the party, eventually eliminating piercing, due to a unique combination of personal attributes: the ability to be friendly, charming and persuasive, while acting as a ruthless electric broker if necessary, according to the members of the SPD speaking to politico subject to anonymity.

“Overall, he is a very friendly and sociable guy,” said Ralf Steger, a Senior SPD parliamentarian who has known Klingbeil for more than two decades. “People who are like this is easily underestimated, because it is not the usual style in politics.”