The princely states on 23 October 2025 at the Conference of Prime Ministers in Mainz, from left: Rhein (Hesse), Lies (Lower Saxony), Tschentscher (Hamburg), Günther (Schleswig-Holstein), Woidke (Brandenburg), Bovenschulte (Bremen), Schweitzer (Rhineland-Pfalz), Söder (Bavaria), Kretschmer (Saxony, with his back to the audience), Kretschmann (Baden-Württemberg), Wüst (North Rhine-Westphalia), Haseloff (Saxony-Anhalt), Voigt (Thuringia). Missing from the picture: Schwesig (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Rehlinger (Saarland), Wegner (Berlin).dpa
Prime ministers accept their weakening if they insist on the principle “whoever orders, pays”. Twenty years ago the rulers still had feelings about it.
