Portrait: The “Soulsister” from Lake Starnberg will probably become Federal President

The CDU and CSU nominate Ilse Aigner for the office of Federal President. The SPD and the Greens are likely to agree. The reasons for their popularity can be found in their hometown, in Munich – and in Berlin.

Ilse Aigner (CSU) is expected to become the first woman to become Federal President and is expected to take over from Frank-Walter Steinmeier in March.

Aigner lives down-to-earth in the Rosenheim district and will not reside in Bellevue Palace during her term in office as it is being renovated.

She has experience as a minister, is described as balancing and mediating and, like the current incumbent as Federal President, could set up citizen dialogues.

The summary was created and editorially checked using AI.

Berlin. Celebrities can remain silent. Especially when they attend Leslie Mandoki's soirée on Lake Starnberg. For more than 20 years, prime ministers, top politicians, company bosses, publishers, musicians and social leaders have been gathering in a relaxed atmosphere in the musician and producer's private home.

In October, the 73-year-old called to the lake again. Former Federal President Christian Wulff was also there - as was the soon-to-be first female President of the Federal Republic of Germany: Ilse Aigner.

According to participants, the 61-year-old has been a member of the exclusive circle since the beginning. It is said that the then Bavarian Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber brought the young MP with him. Aigner and Mandoki have long been close friends. The musician enjoys visiting her family and affectionately calls Aigner his “soul sister”. She, in turn, often comes to the concerts of his band “Soulmates”. Both of them not only love music, they are also gifted networkers.

Soirée at Leslie Mandoki: Christian Wulff, Ilse Aigner, Leslie Mandoki, Peter Maffay and Charlotte Knobloch (from left to right) visiting the music producer. Photo: Red Rock Production

At the end of January, Ilse Aigner will most likely be the first woman to be elected Federal President and will take over from Frank-Walter Steinmeier in March. The CDU and CSU have named her as a candidate, and there is great sympathy for her from both the SPD and the Greens. Nothing should stand in the way of a majority in the Federal Assembly.

It is the highest office in the state, one in which the long lines describe the task: to recognize it, name it and problematize it, as a unifying figure, beyond day-to-day politics.

A federal president also signs laws and has to veto them if he considers them unconstitutional. He also has to moderate when a coalition is in crisis and the majority is no longer secure. Above all, he should speak up when it is necessary to take a stand. In the times of Corona, the war in Ukraine and the rise of extreme parties, many people missed this from the outgoing Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

A country in the “labyrinth of crises”

When asked about his girlfriend Aigner, Mandoki told the Handelsblatt: “The country is in a labyrinth of crises and is looking for the compass.” Ilse Aigner is “the right person” to lead the way towards the future as Federal President. “With her humanity, honesty and warm-heartedness, she is able to connect, build bridges and close the representation gap that has arisen, especially among young people.”

At Mandoki's soirées, they like to talk about the big picture, as they say. If you're thirsty, you can get your own beer from the fridge. It's an image that suits Aigner, who knows the glamour, but who many perceive as down-to-earth and as someone who doesn't polarize but tries to balance things out.

A balancing and mediating colleague. SPD representative

The CSU politician still lives in Feldkirchen-Westerham in the Rosenheim district, in the community where she was once born. It is the area between Lake Starnberg and Lake Tegernsee, where the super-rich live and where Friedrich Merz also has his holiday home. But Aigner lives unpretentiously in an apartment, as confidants report. She doesn't need status symbols.

It's fitting that Bellevue Palace will no longer be her official residence during her term in office. It is expected to remain closed for renovation for eight years.

She rode a racing bike when she was young and still loves the mountains to this day, whether on foot or on skis. On vacation, she and her friends go to South Tyrol - a place of longing for the current Federal President.

Radio technician, local councilor, agriculture minister

Aigner is the youngest of four sisters. She once said that she was the “fun noodle” among the “organ pipes”. As a teenager, she dropped out of high school because, as she confessed many years ago, it was too theoretical for her. She preferred to continue studying at secondary school so that she could then complete training as a radio and television technician and become a state-certified electrical engineer. She then worked on the electrical system for the military helicopter at the EADS subsidiary Eurocopter.

Eurocopter employee Aigner: Development of system electrical systems for helicopters. Photo: Private

Her parents owned an electrical company, but her father was also a role model for her in politics: Like him, Aigner sat on the local council, but then rose further: in 1994 she became a member of the state parliament and four years later a member of the Bundestag.

In Angela Merkel's first cabinet, Aigner became Agriculture and Consumer Minister in 2008 and already showed back then that she preferred to seek balance and moderate rather than pursue her own agenda - similar to Merkel. However, she took on Facebook and Co. to protect users' data. She wasn't successful.

By the way, her Parliamentary State Secretary at the time was Julia Klöckner, a confidant of Friedrich Merz and now President of the Bundestag. She was also considered for the office of Federal President.

Steep rise in the party

In the group of CSU members of the Bundestag, Aigner was always seen as someone who brought together opinions. The SPD praised her as a “balancing and mediating colleague”. Some people consider these qualities to be particularly valuable these days. On the other hand, there are authoritarian leaders who are successful in many places around the world and inspire people as guides.

Delegates and members of the state parliament Aigner: Early rise in the Junge Union. Photo: Private

The rise in the party was just as steep as in the parliaments. Aigner was deputy state chairman of the Junge Union, the chairman was Markus Söder. Together they became the youngest members of the state parliament.

According to its own information, your Miesbach district association has almost 2,000 members, making it one of the largest in the CSU. For 15 years now, she has led the Upper Bavaria party district with the largest number of members and sits on the party board.

In 2013, Aigner returned to Bavaria from Berlin of her own volition to prepare for the office of Prime Minister as Crown Princess. She became deputy head of government and minister for economic affairs and energy. She was not said to have an agenda in office at the time.

While Prime Minister Horst Seehofer blocked the energy transition in Bavaria, Aigner at least sought to balance interests through an “energy dialogue”. The aim was to find alternatives to the nuclear power plants and to build large power lines so that wind energy could flow from the north of the republic to Bavaria. But Seehofer stopped them.

As a minister, she did not carry regulatory policy in front of her like a monstrance, which caused some officials in the Ministry of Economic Affairs to be offended. However, as an experienced networker, she did take part in the Ludwig Erhard Summit from the very beginning, which the publisher and current Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer launched in Gmund am Tegernsee, Erhard's former home, in 2014.

He immediately praised her candidacy on Sunday: “Ilse Aigner is a cheerful, balanced person of heart - exactly the right person for a nation in great irritability,” he wrote on social media. “She is liberal without being arbitrary, self-confident without false pride, clever without any conceit, she is conscious of tradition, a Catholic believer and yet far from any missionary zeal, she has great attitude without allowing herself to be held back by empty phrases.”

Your strength is direct conversation

Aigner feels close to Erhard and even visits his grave regularly. In 2015, for example, she laid a wreath there together with Friedrich Merz. At that time, Merz was far from becoming chancellor, candidate or CDU leader. Both, it is said, are friends.

Four years ago, on Erhard's 125th birthday, Aigner explained during another grave visit that the rules of the social market economy were still important. “Back to the future with Ludwig Erhard,” she demanded.

In the power struggle with Markus Söder, Aigner withdrew. She once said that she didn't want to go to extremes. Others report that she never had full support in the party, not even in her own district association. She also preferred to go on vacation during the crucial phase rather than see the power struggle through to the end. In fact, Ilse Aigner would have liked to become Prime Minister, as her companions report.

Markus Söder eventually became Prime Minister. And Ilse Aigner? She did not want to fit into the cabinet discipline under Söder and, after a short interlude as construction minister, moved to the office of state parliament president after the 2018 state elections.

She would be an excellent local politician. Trailblazer

Aigner doesn't reveal much about her private life, but she does say that she has been seriously ill twice in her life, when she was 17 and later as Agriculture Minister. “That might explain why I see some things a little more calmly today because I know what’s really important,” she told the “Münchner Merkur” in October. In any case, it is not the “excitement” in the political scene. Aigner leads a single life, so as Federal President she is allowed to make state visits alone.

While she is not known for loving studying files, she is considered extremely fair. If she is sometimes unsure on stage, her strength becomes visible in direct conversations with people. “She would be an excellent local politician,” say companions. It is possible that she will set up citizens' dialogues in the office of Federal President, like Steinmeier, in order to talk to people and make a difference.

In any case, she is approachable and is not an intellectual philosopher like Joachim Gauck. Many people see her as a progressive politician who is very interested in research. She already represented liberal positions in the Bundestag, for example on stem cell research. In her environment, she enabled modern forms of work well before the corona pandemic.

Sheepshead at the airport at night

Some people experienced her down-to-earth attitude at Tehran airport: When Aigner was stranded there in her role as a minister years ago, she wasn't upset, say those involved. And that even though she had to spend the night in the cold airport building and the shops were closed. But Aigner reacted pragmatically: She played the traditional Bavarian card game Schafkopf with the then President of the Technical University, Wolfgang Herrmann, all night long.

Related topics CSUMarkus SöderCDUSPDFriedrich MerzBavaria

So far, Aigner has always remained number two behind Söder. As Federal President, she would overtake him - and possibly prevent him from becoming Chancellor after all. According to the CDU, two CSU politicians in the highest state offices would be too much for many people.

More: “It was a lot of excitement” – Merz feels the frustration of the CDU base

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