In the Columbiahalle in Berlin-Tempelhof, cheers break out as the green bar on the big screen grows.

The arms stay up in the concert hall as he stops at 15 percent.

Before the election night, the Greens actually agreed that 15 to 16 percent would be a bad result.

But the Greens are not celebrating the result in the federal government.

There is a small one next to the large screen and the bars for the Berlin election can be seen on it.

They show that, according to the first forecast, the Greens are the strongest force in the capital and that it could be enough for Green-Red.

Therefore the jubilation, Berlin seems more important than the federal government at this moment.

At least you want to pretend.

Helene Bubrowski

Political correspondent in Berlin.

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Michael Kellner, Federal Managing Director and responsible for the election campaign, cannot leave it like this.

“We made significant gains, but I find it difficult to be happy about this result,” says Kellner.

If ten percentage points behind the SPD and Union were a good result, that would mean that the announcement to fight for the Chancellery was not meant so seriously.

The Greens have significantly improved their 2017 election results.

But for months it looked as if 20 percent and more were realistic.

The Greens are far from that on Sunday evening.

"We can't just cheer"

In the Columbiahalle, the joy is once again great when the CDU's losses can be seen in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the prognoses there promise a return to the state parliament. Bettina Jarasch, Berlin's top candidate, has her first appearance on the stage in front of sunflowers. Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock, who was always on the stage in successful state elections in recent years, is a long time coming. After the first extrapolation, according to which there is only a 14 before the decimal point for the Greens, she appears, first about Berlin, then about Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: “Great!” And then Baerbock speaks of the “historically best result” in the federal government . But even she doesn't leave it at that: “We can't just cheer,” she says. “We were there to shape this country as a leading force.We didn't manage that, because of our own mistakes, including mine. "Baerbock wants to look ahead:" We have an order for the future. "The hall rages, chants:" Annalena, Annalena. "

Federal Managing Director Kellner had repeatedly assured in the past few weeks that after the election, the error analysis would be faced. Of course, it's mainly about Baerbock. The question that is particularly painful for her is whether she was the right candidate, whether government and election campaign experience should no longer count. And whether the Greens made the mistake of taking internal criteria more seriously than the question of who in the broader society has the better chances. It will also be about why the Greens have not found a mechanism for the decision on the K-question that is better than leaving the clarification to two people, who both wanted to become candidates for chancellor.

Among Baerbock's confidants, Habeck's responsibility is also being discussed: His comments on her candidacy were disloyal, one can hear.

So far it had been possible to keep the mutual accusations under the covers.

Does an open argument break out now?