The magic trick of the traffic light: Then there will be howling and chattering of teeth

It was reckless on the part of Hermann Hesse to really ascribe a magic to every beginning.

But how could he have suspected that his words are particularly likely to spill out of politicians after they have concluded coalition negotiations?

This time Saskia Esken used the rather worn formula to let Germany know how magical she found the agreement with the Greens and the FDP on a political alliance for the next four years.

Although she, the SPD party leader, is not allowed to sit at the cabinet table.

But not only Esken, their whole party has been seized by the magic of power.

How else could it be?

Until a few months ago, the SPD was considered an endangered species.

But now she can say with some justification: The state, that's me.

It provides the Federal Chancellor, half a dozen Federal Ministers and the President of the Bundestag.

The Federal President is of social democratic origin (his membership is suspended).

If a Prime Minister from the ranks of the Reds becomes President of the Federal Council in turn, the four highest state offices are in the hands of Social Democrats.

The probability that the number of social democratic country leaders will increase next year is not small.

The SPD will also propose the next President of the Bundesbank.

You can still rub your eyes there

You can still rub your eyes when you think of the election result that the SPD had won: 25.7 percent. The fact that this very poor performance turned into a political triumph is due to the even worse performance of the Union and the support of two even smaller parties. Of course, the Greens and FDP do not see themselves only as stirrup holders, as Habeck and Lindner's appearances already showed when the coalition agreement was presented. The partners of the SPD have had the votes with which Scholz will be elected a “strong Chancellor” (so Lindner graciously) paid for with a variety of programmatic concessions.

Compared to the Greens, the SPD, especially its left wing, did not find it particularly difficult, as the two parties are still ideologically close. In order to get the FDP on board, however, the Social Democrats had to swallow a few bucks. Of course, the SPD and the Greens also served slimy food to the Free Democrats, who then also had to choke them down - because the Union in its desolate state was not available as a government partner, but the FDP wanted to return to government after a long period of abstinence.

It was quite a magic feat how the three parties mixed positions that were far apart from each other, which stem from very different images of people and the state, into a coalition agreement.

According to Lindner, individual sentences had been struggled for hours.

Formula compromises emerged which each party can interpret in its own way over the next four years.

It would also be strange if the economically liberal wing of the FDP and the left in the SPD suddenly had a common understanding of progress, freedom and justice.

Even the Left Party doubts that it can be financed

All three parties are now speaking of a “departure”. When it comes to actually realizing the promises of the treaty - the financing of which even the Left Party doubts - it will show that this is a departure in different directions. That is what those voters who wanted the FDP to be part of a coalition with only one left-wing party will hope for. In the mesalliance in which it has now landed, however, it will always be put under pressure from two sides. The "Fundis" are already rebelling among the Greens. And Scholz, too, will still enjoy the young (and old) leftists in the SPD.

But of course the three party peoples will first agree to the patient paper that their leaderships negotiated. None of the three parties wants to miss the chance that has finally come to reshape the country according to their own ideas.

After 16 years of Merkel, which in the end turned out to be leaden, the joy that the continuation has come to an end and that new figures are entering the stage will continue for a while, even in larger circles.

But when the magic of the new is gone and the unreasonable demands of Climate Minister Habeck find their way into daily life, there will be a lot of howling and chattering teeth.

Then it will be said: We did not want THAT!

That's lazy magic!

But the parties' programs were known, as were the ambitions of the politicians.

And whoever thought they had to punish the CDU with the withdrawal of the vote for Laschet becoming a candidate for chancellor and not Merz or Söder, well, what can one say: It serves him right.