He was the grandson of Hitler’s Reich Youth Leader, Baldur von Schirach. He will never vote for the AfD. He didn’t want to ban it either. On Caren Miosga (56), renowned lawyer and bestselling author Ferdinand von Schirach (61) now explains why. The most important argument.
Von Schirach on the Office for the Protection of the Constitution’s 2024 report as a possible basis for a ban on the AfD: “It won’t do anything. You’re somehow shocked by this ethnic nonsense, by all the stupid things they keep saying, and by these mistakes. But the fact that you actually find real hostility to the constitution there, at least it doesn’t to me. What we have, at least to me, doesn’t seem enough for a ban on the party.”
The AfD does not want to ban von Schirach
Von Schirach on the unfortunate consequences: “A ban on the AfD is a declaration of bankruptcy for the party that proposed it. A vow of openness: We have not succeeded in making this party an offer to the voters so that they can vote for us. Now they act as if the ban on the AfD is something very great. In fact, it is not. This is something very undemocratic because you are banning a democratic competitor. You are just saying: He is not democratic, that is why we are banning him.”
Caren Miosga (56) with star writer Ferdinand von Schirach in the program on November 16
When politicians lie, trust decreases
On the AfD: “The problem is that people no longer have trust. And that lack of trust causes them to suffer AfD choose. For the most part, these are not protest voters or crazy conspiracy theorists, but people who are disillusioned with politics.”
On Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s (69) controversial analysis on November 9: “To me, the speech didn’t seem very clever. It was delivered in front of a lot of people who were in Steinmeier’s camp. It was the kind of speech where you have enemies on the outside and you sit comfortably around a campfire and you get a lot of applause.”
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in his speech on November 9 at Bellevue Palace
“Citizens’ money is not handled properly”
Von Schirach on the most dangerous problem of our time: “Currently 50 percent of administrative judges only handle asylum procedures. This will not work well in the long run. And the approach to citizens’ money has been done in the wrong way because society says it saves money. Citizens’ money is not about money, it is about justice!”
Von Schirach on the strong role of the SPD: “A coalition in which a party with only 16 percent determines what is done is wrong. It is probably the definition of stupidity to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results every time. If we don’t pull ourselves together and say we are reforming the system, nothing will happen.”
Lawyer on current criticism of the federal government: “Of course, politicians lie all the time. That’s what they have to do. There’s no other way, and it’s nothing new. The problem is that our trust is very much under threat right now. The public is suspicious. Only 49 percent believe that democracy is working well. And when trust is so shaken, lying is something much more dangerous.”
On why: “When will trust in politics be shaken? When something is promised and not kept. When politicians’ actions are deemed unfair. And when problems are not really mentioned, that is, when things are left unnamed. And all three of those things have happened. We have a chancellor who is constantly promising things he can’t deliver at all.”
Reform proposals: Chancellor for seven years
From Schirach Proposed unusual solution: “Make a major reform of the Constitution. The Chancellor is elected for a term of seven years, and no more. All state elections on the same day, after three and a half years. The Chancellor has the opportunity to pass three laws in these seven years without Parliament; the Federal Constitutional Court examines the laws before they come into force. After three years, Parliament has the opportunity to abolish these laws. This is the only way you can do difficult things like pension reform.”
Von Schirach’s urgent warning: “If we do not reform democracy, then democracy will soon end because we will be swallowed up by other countries that are much faster. In a crisis, autocrats will be much quicker and more effective. We don’t want autocrats, we want democracy, but we have to improve democracy.”
