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It is a night full of stumbling blocks, full of confusion, ambiguity and question marks.
A night without content, without a programmatic speech, a night without enthusiasm or even a single rousing idea.
And yet it is the night when the CDU definitely speaks out in favor of a candidate for chancellor.
It is the night of the decision for Armin Laschet.
It takes more than six hours for the party executive to force Laschet into the race against CSU boss Markus Söder for the second time within eight days.
It is a tough struggle over the importance of the party committees, a tussle over the supposed will of an actually unknown party base, a dull battle with the regulations of board votes and with digital technology.
It is not a competition of ideas.
In the end, after midnight, Laschet left the meeting with 77.5 percent of the vote.
He can be happy that the CDU counts abstentions and votes not cast out of traditional mildness - otherwise he would only have received two-thirds approval.
Laschet wins, it's a lackluster victory.
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But the party leader has once again gathered the bodies behind him - despite all the polls.
What does he actually want to do with this hard-won support - apart from coming to the Chancellery in September?
Hardly anyone dealt with that that night.
After everything that got outside, that wasn't the point.
The morning after, it's about whether Söder will recognize this poor success.
Or whether the Franconian attacks again.
Söder had announced on Monday with great serenity: "We as the CSU and I also respect every decision." That now applies, even after this stumbled night at the CDU.
Söder tested how shaky Laschet's authority is in the CDU, it was an important test when it comes to a possible chancellor. Laschet passed the test late and not with flying colors. Now Söder also has to deliver if he does not want to drive the union apart completely. Another attack from Bavaria would no longer understand the republic, which is in pandemic worries. Söder has prepared many versions of his politician self. Now the loyal party friend is in demand.