The ‘anti-Merkel’: two private jets but I’m only ‘upper middle class’, says German conservative contender Friedrich Merz
- Friedrich Merz, front runner to take over leadership of Germany’s main conservative party, says ‘middle class’ is more about moral values than monetary ones
- Merz, who made a fortune in the financial sector with annual earnings topping US$1million, stands in contrast to frugal Angela Merkel
A front runner to take over from Angela Merkel as leader of Germany’s main conservative party is facing criticism for describing himself as “upper middle class” despite having amassed a fortune working in the financial sector and owning two private jets.
Friedrich Merz, 62, who has been selling himself as the man who can save Germany from political and economic stagnation, and is seen as the most likely to succeed Merkel as head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), was forced to disclose this week that his annual earnings amounted to around €1 million (US$1.14million). The size of his personal fortune is not known but is estimated to run to several million euros.
The revelations over Merz’s wealth are seen as the biggest threat to his candidacy. The CDU is aware that having haemorrhaged millions of votes at recent elections, it cannot afford to alienate the electorate by having as a leader someone who highlights the growing rich-poor divide in Germany.
Critics have described Merz as the “anti-Merkel” as he differs from her immensely in everything from his political style to his attitudes towards wealth accumulation. The weekly news magazine Der Spiegel said he was a “gilt-edged candidate” who, if he ever became chancellor, would be the first to fly his own private plane. “Money was never a driving force for Merkel, but that’s not what one can say of Merz,” it said.
Over her 13 years as chancellor, Merkel has cultivated an image – highly popular with German voters – as a spendthrift who takes modest hiking holidays, repeatedly wears the same clothes and makes her own potato soup.
