News: Survey sees Merz failed, commemoration of Hamas victims on October 7th, Galeria bankruptcy

A large majority of Germans see Friedrich Merz's chancellorship as a failure. SPIEGEL interviewed 2,002 people last week. The result is representative of those eligible to vote in Germany – and another low blow for the ailing Chancellor. 67 percent consider Merz to have failed, and in East Germany the figure is even 80 percent. 58 percent of Germans believe that Merz should resign as chancellor and party leader (more on this here).

The reasons for this devastating verdict are probably varied: voters on the left and right considered him unsuitable from the start. Merz has alienated many others who may have initially had hope in him with his broken debt promise and his harsh rhetoric. The Chancellor often did not spread a spirit of optimism, instead he blamed the people. He reacted insulted to criticism.

Merz previously wanted to halve the popularity of the AfD, but instead there has been a right-wing extremist state parliament president in Saxony-Anhalt since yesterday (more on that here). And although I have never been a supporter of Friedrich Merz, I cannot be happy about his failure.

Today is October 7th and this day belongs to the victims. On other days, we can again debate whether the Israeli government failed to protect its people or whether Benjamin Netanyahu even ignored specific warnings about the attack (more on that here). And on other days we will again sharply criticize his partly right-wing extremist government for its inhumane actions against the people in the Gaza Strip. And also for allowing the violence of fanatical settlers in the West Bank (more on that here).

One of them was Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23 years old, a football fan who was attending a music festival when he was kidnapped. His mother Rachel suffers every day from the loss of her son and has now written a book about her pain. My colleague Thore Schröder met her and asked how she manages to keep hatred and revenge away from her. Her answer impressed me: “These feelings just haven’t knocked on my door yet.”

Now I want to make another appeal: The Galeria department store chain absolutely needs to be saved again, fourth bankruptcy or not (more on that here). This is not a completely altruistic request: I live near Hermannplatz in Berlin and there is a department store there that will forever be called Karstadt, even if the name has long since disappeared from the company name. And this department store must not disappear.

Because where else could I buy a frying pan, an apron, a spatula and all the ingredients for my dinner that I had no idea I would ever cook in one single purchase? And where else would I experience a saleswoman answering me with such refreshing honesty when I cautiously asked if I could ask her something: "I'm working right now."

Seriously: Here at Hermannplatz, Karstadt is more than just a department store. It is a social center, a meeting point and anchor point in an area that would be pretty much lost without it. And that's certainly not just the case here.

More background here: “Galeria is not attractive either in terms of prices or product range”