You don't have to make the same mistake twice. The FDP chairman Christian Lindner therefore claimed the finance ministry for his party early on - and thus for himself. Whoever manages the money can get involved everywhere. The department is therefore one of the most important in the government. In addition, there is the special role of the FDP in the traffic light. While the SPD and the Greens see themselves as “progressive” forces who want to give the state more influence and resources, liberals are designed differently: They rely on the responsibility of the individual. That does not mean that they are aiming for a night watchman state, but the tendency does that mean: no more taxes than necessary. But Lindner will not be able to give anything back, the desolate budget situation and the new partners will not allow that.

The traumatic experiences from the coalition with the Union continue to have an effect. In autumn 2009, the FDP did not reach out to the Ministry of Finance, even though it had previously placed tax policy at the center of its election campaign. The episode is well known and has been described often enough, and in the end the Liberal Party stood there naked. She had promised a lot and achieved nothing, she was punished and was thrown not only out of the federal government, but also out of the Bundestag. Four years later she was back in parliament with Lindner at the helm, even on the threshold of power. His late rejection of a Jamaica coalition with the often-quoted words: "It is better not to govern than to govern badly" was a reflex to the old shame.

Four years later, the FDP dares to rule with the Greens in a three-party coalition - not with the Union as planned, but with the SPD as a senior partner.

The Ministry of Finance is all the more important.

Lindner used the time to prepare for his new role.

But ultimately these are dry runs.

In December it goes into the water.

Then he has to show that he can swim in a turbulent sea.

Because as quietly as in the past few weeks, in which red-green-yellow gave the impression of harmony and professionalism, things will hardly be in the next four years.