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To his left is a crammed bookcase.
A large-format poster with racing bikes is stuck to the door of the room.
In Corona times, Till Steffen's (green) study has to serve as an election campaign center.
The 47-year-old ex-Justice Senator had already announced in autumn that he wanted to run for the Bundestag - as one of the first.
That would not be an easy undertaking under normal circumstances.
In the constituency of Eimsbüttel, he meets two political heavyweights who have long since arrived where the right-wing politician wants to go and who are also eyeing the direct mandate that would again catapult them into the Berlin Reichstag building without detour via the party lists: Niels Annen, Social Democrat, formerly Juso -Chef, State Secretary in the Federal Foreign Office for three years.
And Rüdiger Kruse (CDU), who has taken up the issue of sustainability and is considered one of the most powerful financial politicians.
One could speak of an “elephant race” that the whole city will watch.
This is how they campaign in lockdown
But now the lockdown has to be added - the election campaign is currently and is likely to be a dispute for a long time, which will be carried out via press releases, tweets and video conferences.
The distance rules forbid any direct contact with the citizens: no shaking hands at weekly markets, no public meetings, and no chatter at the front door.
But how do politicians collect votes in the Corona-dominated election campaign year?
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Till Steffen tries to do this with a series of "digital talk shows", as he calls it.
Last week he started “The Political Quartet”.
Krista Sager, a Hamburg-based Green veteran, Maryam Blumenthal and Emilia Fester, two women from the offspring of the Greens with great ambitions, will be there.
Fester also wants to go to the Bundestag.
Steffen, who is sometimes said to be a little unapproachable, takes the discussion in hand, visibly blossoms, and shifts restlessly on his chair.
For almost an hour and a half they talk and argue about green self-image, green realpolitik, green aloofness, green ambitions.
The livestream has an average of 23 viewers, 90 in total.
Two days earlier, in "Till's Talk", Steffen had the topic of rebuilding the synagogue on Bornplatz.
190 people watched.
Steffen thinks that is remarkable.
“My concern was that you would stay in your own green bubble,” he says.
"The question of how to get out of your own haze can be answered with the fact that you have to grasp the right topics and give people a certain amount of lead time."
After seven and a half years as Justice Senator, Steffens Dunstkreis is bigger than with other Greens.
He had to surrender his post to Anna Gallina, the head of the country, following the successful state election for his party.
In any case, his face is known, that should help him.
Meanwhile, he is perceived more as a candidate for the Bundestag than as an ex-senator, says Steffen.
Party colleagues say more and more: "You can keep that in mind." For the time in Berlin.
"Sure, the Greens are strong at the moment"
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There is still a long way to go, however.
The elections are in September and Steffen is dealing with two opponents who are bursting with self-confidence.
Niels Annen in particular is something of a favorite.
He has already won the direct mandate three times, in 2017, 2013 and 2005. "That is something special because it is a direct legitimation," says Annen.
"I've always felt that this was a special obligation."
He thinks he can repeat his success.
“Sure, the Greens are strong at the moment,” he says.
"But, as we saw in Hamburg, that can change quickly."
Annen is one of the spokespersons for the left wing of the SPD, is a prominent figure in federal politics, but is not entirely undisputed in his own party.
Two years ago, as Minister of State, he took part in a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Islamists' seizure of power in Iran at the Iranian Embassy in Berlin.
He had no regrets, he replied to criticism.
“We need to keep the opportunities for dialogue with Tehran open.” At the time, the FDP spoke of an “embarrassment”, and it was important to keep “distance” from the regime.
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Annen says he doesn't see himself in the election campaign, at least not yet.
"We are mainly in lockdown." This statement is likely to be based on the experience of the last few months, in which he received "an unusually high number of emails".
The corona debate was very emotional, which he had to endure as part of the federal government.
"I tried to phone as many as possible who wrote to me."
Anyone who follows his social media presence does not have the impression that he is postponing the election campaign.
There you come across a number of appearances with well-known SPD faces: Katharina Barley, Vice President of the EU Parliament, Hamburg's Mayor Peter Tschentscher, health politician Karl Lauterbach.
Annen says that social democratic issues came to the fore in the Corona crisis and that the SPD will benefit from them.
"A good health system, basic security, short-time work allowance, these are issues and elements of our social system that we have promoted."
With a view to the election campaign, it is wise to prepare for both scenarios, says Annen: that the lockdown will continue into the summer holidays, when the hot phase is.
And that a classic election campaign will soon be possible.
“But we're not alone in this,” he says, “all parties have to come to terms with it.” Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) said that the Corona crisis was a democratic imposition.
"I think that's a good statement."
Eimsbüttel is one of six constituencies.
How many MPs come to the Bundestag is a complicated calculation.
In principle, the following applies: The voters determine a direct candidate by means of the first vote.
At least six other members of the Bundestag are determined via the state election lists of the parties.
The more second votes a party receives, the more MPs it can send to Berlin.
The Greens, for example, want to decide on their electoral list in April.
Steffen is expected to take second place on the list.
If he doesn't make it as a direct candidate, the chances would be good to get to Berlin via the list.
“First and foremost, we want a strong green image for Hamburg, that's how I see my role,” says Steffen.
“We are the leading force in the left spectrum.
And that is also part of the SPD's problem.
That they do not take notice. "
In the last federal election, the SPD won the fight for the direct candidate in five constituencies.
The CDU got the most votes for this.
The SPD sent five, the CDU four MPs to Berlin - and the Greens two.
Hamburg is currently represented by 16 members of the Bundestag.
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Five years ago, Rüdiger Kruse won 28.7 percent of the votes in Eimsbüttel, 2.9 percent less than Annen.
"This year the voters in Eimsbüttel have a good choice, Annen for foreign policy, Steffen for justice policy and I for sustainability," he says.
With Till Steffen, the Greens once again presented an independent candidate; in the last elections, many actually green voters gave their first vote to the SPD.
This time Niels Annen couldn't rely on it.
He is betting that the center-left votes will split between the SPD and the Greens and that he will benefit from it in the end.
Kruse stands for a black and green self-image.
He is considered liberal, metropolitan, ecological and conservative in terms of value.
In Eimsbüttel, the CDU governs in a coalition with the Greens.
A similar coalition would be conceivable at the federal level.
Kruse does not want to commit himself: "I would like to have a sole government." But with six parties that is "not an easy number".
He also tries digital channels in lockdown, but also recognizes the limits: "If you look at new formats like Clubhouse, there are a few hundred people in there at a time, that's really good." I always know a few names - journalists, politicians.
“That doesn't necessarily go down well with citizens,” he says.
Steffen relies on his government experience
If all three candidates have something in common, it is their rather reserved manner and the large network that each has spun for himself.
In the past few years, Kruse has unleashed a number of millions for structural and cultural projects from the federal budget for Hamburg, Annen pushed on his foreign policy career.
And Steffen?
He is said to have ambitions for the post of Federal Minister of Justice.
He has to laugh about it.
And then says: “I have a good chance of playing a visible role in the Greens parliamentary group.
Because I have seven and a half years of experience as a state minister. ”That is a quality that few others would bring with them.
This text is from WELT AM SONNTAG. We will be happy to deliver them to your home on a regular basis.
Source: WORLD