If Olaf Scholz had become cultural representative for the cement industry, Wolfgang Schmidt would probably have been sitting in an adjoining room and would take care of everything that goes into art and concrete.

However, Scholz is now Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor.

Which doesn’t change the fact that said Schmidt takes care of a lot in the neighboring office.

Like other top politicians, Scholz has some companions on his political career whom he trusts.

Peter Carstens

Political correspondent in Berlin

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Schmidt has accompanied Scholz for around 20 years.

He was head of his parliamentary office, then the office of the SPD general secretary, and then office head of the labor minister.

And he was immediately back when Scholz became First Mayor of Hamburg in 2011, this time as a State Councilor.

Schmidt, who was born in Hamburg in 1970 and, like Scholz, studied law there, expanded his influence.

Some say that the friendly and sociable Schmidt is a necessary prerequisite for the political success of the sometimes shy Scholz.

Organizes the SPD under government responsibility

When Scholz became Minister of Finance, Schmidt also changed and became State Secretary in Berlin. Scholz employs three other state secretaries for finances in the narrower sense. Schmidt's task is most briefly summarized in the abbreviation “Chef V-BK”. This means that he leads the office of Vice Chancellor as the head of the Federal Chancellery ("Chief BK") conducts the affairs of the Federal Chancellor a few hundred meters away. Schmidt organizes the SPD under government responsibility, at federal and state level, by day and by night. He works a lot, but mostly looks like he's doing it for sheer pleasure. That the married father of two children also watches half the internet is part of it.

He may have exaggerated his activities when he drew attention to the considerable discrepancy between the text of a search warrant (judicial) and the wording of a press release from the Osnabrück public prosecutor's office. That he partially reproduced the resolution may not have been permitted. In any case, the Osnabrück public prosecutor's office is of this opinion, which, however, had to submit its investigation to Berlin immediately, because of its jurisdiction. Scholz reacted calmly to the process: "The State Secretary tweets a lot, I can hardly understand what he is doing in detail." He also has a few other things to do. Schmidt will be particularly annoyed about having delivered ammunition for the political shotgun to Scholz's opponents in the increasingly bitter election campaign.If Scholz becomes chancellor, the outcome of the proceedings is unlikely to change the fact that his confidante Schmidt remains his closest colleague.