Only once did the party leadership of the Frankfurt CDU applaud the television picture: When Armin Laschet appeared in front of the supporters in Berlin at ten to seven and thanks Chancellor Angela Merkel for the past 16 years, the party colleagues in distant Frankfurt also lift their hands.

Otherwise it's a little emotional evening in the Stadtsalon on Braubachstrasse.

Ten to six, it's still pretty empty. ZDF is on the screen. The party chairman Jan Schneider and the former treasurer Uwe Becker stare at the first forecast at 6 p.m. Behind masks that unfortunately hide the expressions on their faces. Just in time for the first forecast, Axel Kaufmann also scurries into the cozy restaurant with his bicycle helmet under his arm. Kaufmann doesn't have to look for a new apartment in Berlin. In the event that it was enough for him, the tall CDU politician, whom his party had sent into the race in constituency 182 in the west of Frankfurt, did not want to pull into a "parliamentary bubble". He no longer has to worry: He clearly loses the fight for the direct mandate in the constituency against Armand Zorn (SPD).And 22nd place won't be enough for him on the state list either.

"Not a good result for the Union"

Bettina Wiesmann also comes on time and strengthens herself with a pea soup.

Wiesmann may have to give up her beautiful apartment in Prenzlauer Berg: She loses the fight for the second Frankfurt constituency 183 against Omid Nouripour from the Greens.

Wiesmann ranks fourth on the state list.

If that is not enough, she will no longer have to commute between Frankfurt and Berlin.

Then no CDU politician from Frankfurt would be represented in the Bundestag.

It slowly fills up: Christiane Loizides appears, and Markus Frank, Daniela Birkenfeld, Verena David and Nils Kößler gradually roll in. Nobody is cheering, but most of them are astonishingly serene. Many say it was hinted at. Schneider and Becker speak of a “race to catch up”. They think it is correct that Laschet wants to form the government. “The people want the country to be run in a stable manner,” says Becker. Laschet showed in North Rhine-Westphalia that “he can do it”.

Nevertheless: The CDU cannot be satisfied with the election result.

"That is not a good result for the Union," says Kaufmann.

What was it?

In his constituency, says Kaufmann, many Green voters would probably have given their first vote to the better-known SPD candidate.

That is why the gap between him and the winner is so great.

And at the federal level?

Kößler names the "hanging game" in the candidate selection.

Kaufmann believes that the CDU must make an effort not to lose touch with younger voters.

“You can reach young people through climate and digitization.

We have to get more points. ”Wiesmann advocated this topic in Berlin: youth policy.

She had an interesting experience in conversation with young people: "If we explain our positions, you will reach them."