Four years ago, Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg would have liked to become Frankfurt's mayor.

At that time, she ran as a mayoral candidate for the Greens.

Now the 57-year-old, who has a doctorate in psychology, could unexpectedly be given the role of leading Germany's fifth-largest city - at least for a few weeks, until after a possible early election.

Because Eskandari-Grünberg, who was elected mayor by the city parliament in September, is the deputy of the incumbent Mayor Peter Feldmann, who is suspected of corruption.

If he resigns, Eskandari-Grünberg would come into play.

Mechthild Harting

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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But Feldmann, re-elected by the Frankfurters in 2018 with 70.8 percent of the votes, considers himself innocent.

And he does not even react to the request of his own party, the Frankfurt SPD, to resign from office if the court should allow the indictment brought by the public prosecutor at the end of March on suspicion of taking advantage in the affair about the Arbeiterwohlfahrt (AWO).

Political Frankfurt expects the latter to happen.

According to reports, Feldmann also assumes the same.

In the Römer for around 20 years

On the very day that the public prosecutor's office officially confirmed the indictment, Eskandari-Grünberg got an impression of what it means to be the representative of an ailing mayor.

Feldmann asked her at very short notice to take over the reception for the Persian-Kurdish spring festival Norouz in the Kaisersaal and to greet the guests he had invited.

Two days earlier, the mayor herself had given her own reception on the occasion of the Nourouz festival with 450 guests - in the community center of the Palmengarten.

After two years of pandemic and isolation, she really wanted to celebrate the festival, she says: Spring brings people together.

Apparently not all, as the parallel event organized by Feldmann showed.

Eskandari-Grünberg, who has been involved in politics at the Römer for around 20 years, does not reveal whether it annoyed her to step in at the last minute, especially in this case.

"Aggravation?

That's not good advice," she says, and you can hear the therapist in her.

She tries to react to such a situation with a high degree of professionalism.

"I think it's important that people treat each other with respect." And political activity is a field where you should always remain very objective, advises the woman, who fled Iran to Frankfurt at the age of 20 as a victim of political persecution by the Islamist regime is holding a two-year-old child by the hand.

"I'm everything but a date junkie"

It is important to her to be able to prepare appropriately for an event.

Eskandari-Grünberg admits to being a "quite a perfectionist".

For her, every appointment must have a meaning, otherwise she doesn't even notice it: "I'm everything, just not an appointment junkie." energetic, assertive side.

It goes without saying that she nevertheless greeted and appreciated Feldmann's guests.

Invitations to the Kaisersaal are not “personal parties”, but rather events organized by the city of Frankfurt.

Your task is to represent them in the interest of the citizenry as a whole, but also with a view to the individual invitees.

“I take this responsibility very seriously,” she says, adding that it is “borrowed power” that she – like all other electoral officials in Römer – has.

And only to do one thing: "shape the city".

The Greens politician, who was involved early on in the municipal representation for foreigners and had been a member of the Greens faction since 2001 before becoming an honorary integration department head in 2008, does not want to be reduced to the role of the "general representative" of the mayor specified in the Hessian municipal code.