“No matter what is said publicly, I will continue to speak to him”

At the end of the meeting with the chancellor, almost everyone joins in as if for a great polonaise. Curled like bratwurst snails so that they fit one after the other in the large hall of the locomotive shed in Marburg so that we can take a selfie with Olaf Scholz. It takes three to five seconds per photo. Scholz stands there as if frozen and smiles so constantly that his facial muscles have to hurt the next morning. If someone respectfully keeps too far away from the head of government, Scholz waves him closer. The Chancellor up close.

Olaf Scholz has reason to smile this Thursday evening in northern Hesse. 150 people asked him 20 questions in 90 minutes during the citizens' dialogue. And in the end, the chancellor can't help but return to Berlin with the certainty that the majority of citizens share his course in the Ukraine war. In any case, the atmosphere in the engine shed conveys this impression. "I'm so glad you're hesitant to wait and see about this war," a young woman introduces question twelve. The applause is huge at this point. Scholz does not contradict her on the keyword "hesitating".

Olaf Scholz has decided to hold talks with the chancellor in every federal state to find out what moves people. "There is no better grounding" and more certainty about what is important to people, said Scholz that evening.

Now this was the fifth in the series. And it was more relaxed than on previous occasions. When there were protests with boos and insults at venues. Like last August in Magdeburg. You could literally feel the tension in the streets around the historic fortress where Scholz performed. Or as before in Neuruppin, Brandenburg, when the chancellor was trilled down and booed at a citizens' consultation hour.

But unlike Neuruppin, Marburg is a small student town with a corresponding number of young people and a red-green majority. In the last local elections, the Greens had done best, just ahead of the SPD. Together, both parties came to half of the votes, the AfD played and plays no significant role. And in the last federal election, the SPD won 37 and 30 percent of the first and second votes in the constituency, respectively. So Marburg is a home game for Olaf Scholz.

Of course, there will also be demonstrations there when the chancellor arrives. But not with the force, this anger like in the East. The left gathers the people at the main station, a banner reads "class struggle". That is what is expected of the left. A speaker shrillly calls for better conditions for “teachers, students” and others in university operations. The mood is so medium. It's exhausting shouting gender-appropriate slogans into the megaphone. The atmosphere in the locomotive shed, on the other hand, is good.

The 150 chosen by drawing lots are put in an even better mood by a moderator who seems to be in a good mood. Then the "paths" are practiced that one should follow in order to later get to the chancellor selfie. One photo each. Nevertheless, after the first questions, after the usual long-running issues such as the yawning demand for a speed limit, it quickly becomes clear: Many here in the room are worried, some are seriously afraid. "I'm afraid that Russia will attack Germany," says a teacher before beginning question 14. Again the applause is long and heavy.

The 150 citizens are not interested in rising energy prices. Whether there will be enough gas, electricity or even energy from renewable sources this winter or next, or oil if need be. They don't want to know anything about inflation, how long the economy will continue to do well, whether their jobs are secure. Or whether they can afford to live their lives at the current level in the future.

They also don't ask about the consequences of the most recent fatal knife attack on the regional train from Kiel to Hamburg or the poison attack in Castrop-Rauxel that was probably foiled, not about internal security in the country, about secure pensions, better schools. They want to know from Olaf Scholz what he is doing to prevent war from coming to Germany.

Now the audience that evening is on average older and from a "rather left-wing town", as one participant puts it. It seems educated above average and interested in politics – of course. And in addition to the SPD, the Left Party in Marburg is also a fixture, with double-digit results in the last local elections. The woman with the last question begins her contribution by pointing out that she is a veteran social democrat.

In this environment, arms deliveries to Ukraine, which Moscow could see as a provocation, are viewed with skepticism. And since Germany's decision to supply battle tanks, increasingly with fruit. The Chancellor is playing a home game this evening. But he still has to do his own thing to win it. He succeeds - but not for the reason he probably thinks.

An elderly gentleman wants to know what makes Scholz so sure that the tank deliveries will not result in an escalation. "Wouldn't it be better if we had a conversation?" the man says. De facto means: letting Ukraine down. "A war between NATO and Russia would be terrible," Scholz replies. He adds: "We have the responsibility to do everything we can to ensure that this escalation does not happen." When it came to supplying more weapons, he did not allow himself to be pushed into going it alone: ​​"If some call out: 'Go ahead!', then I say : 'That's not the right way.'” Applause.

Another participant would like the chancellor to assess whether the eastward expansion of NATO is not an unacceptable impertinence for Russia. "I was in Moscow and before that in Kyiv," says Scholz. "I said in both cities that Ukraine's NATO membership is really not on the agenda here, it won't happen in the next 30 to 40 years. And yet this argument provided one of the flimsiest reasons for war for Putin.” It was all a pretense.

A young woman wants to find out when Putin will lay down his arms: "What has to happen for this to stop?" The chancellor only sees an opportunity to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war if Russia agrees to withdraw troops from the occupied territories I am ready to declare: "The moment they let it be known that the way is troop withdrawal, at that moment the way for talks with Ukraine is - I'm pretty sure - free." Then there is also the opportunity to admit oneself communicate. "But we still have to work a bit towards that," adds Scholz. Then, looking at Putin, the Chancellor declared almost defiantly: "Regardless of what is said publicly, I will continue to speak to him."

The applause is polite. The fact that Olaf Scholz managed to get his catchphrases about the minimum wage and successful housing construction this time is also lost, as are the demands of the always extremely present, well-prepared representatives of doctors, nurses and other health professionals. Or the fact that the chancellor is demonstratively backing his interior minister, Nancy Faeser, for her candidacy as SPD top candidate in the Hessian state election campaign. Although he might lose her by doing so.

At the very end, after the selfies, there are pretzels, homemade ice tea and a dry assessment of the participants. "I thought it was okay. The chancellor responded to the questions and he doesn't seem as colorless as on television," says a woman from Marburg. Another participant adds: “I am satisfied. He didn't say anything new, but I wasn't expecting much either.” Let's call it a narrow victory on points.