TIME FOR COURAGE AND BREAKTHROUGH

Last election Sunday was a special day. For the first time in many years, I made my way to the polling station myself instead of voting by mail as before. And I was one of many: Voter turnout was high, you could see that people knew how decisive this February 23, 2025 could be.

After two decades of stagnation, during which paralyzing political mildew had spread across the entire country, and after three years of traffic light disputes, this election in itself was a celebration of democracy – regardless of the result. This day also marked the beginning of a new political era, a turning point that raises such important questions:

Will the future Chancellor Friedrich Merz succeed in forming a government that will tackle the country’s pressing problems and give people renewed courage?

Does this government want and can it get the economy going again and control illegal migration with exploding social spending and rising crime?

Will it manage to push back rampant bureaucracy and stop the unchecked growth of public administration?

Will it keep the state’s promise of protection and thus ensure more internal and external security in a rapidly changing world?

Declarations of intent will not help. A new mindset is needed, not only in the country’s leadership, but in all of us – for too long we have sat back and just shaken our heads at the wild goings-on on the political stage. Instead of faith in the state and moralizing, it is now time for more personal responsibility, more willingness to perform and more courage from each individual to make their contribution to the country’s new beginning. If this succeeds, then Germany’s voice will regain weight in Europe and the world, then we can be proud of this country again.

I often speak to people who are bitterly disappointed by the politics of the last ten years, by politicians who lack competence and who moralize but act irresponsibly themselves. Who see their office as a kind of self-service shop and have maneuvered Germany to the brink of the abyss with ideological politics. Many have lost trust – and for good reason.

But as justified as this disappointment is, it will not work this time without a vote of confidence in the new leadership. Perhaps that is precisely the crucial question at the start of the new political era: Can we learn to trust again? Not blindly, not naively, but actively, critically, vigilantly and with confidence?

Germany has often proven that it can overcome crises and flourish anew. The course has been set – now it is up to all of us not only to follow this path, but to help shape it.

Best wishes,

Ernst-M. Ehrenkönig · CEO & Managing Partner