Ep. 13 - There is No Real Alternative for Germany, with Hans-Jochen Wagner

There is No Real Alternative for Germany, with Hans-Jochen Wagner

This time, Budapest steps onto a stage.

Not because politics belongs to theatre (well, sometimes...), but because artists often understand politics better than politics understands itself.

That is why I invited Hans-Jochen Wagner. One of Germany's best-known television and theatre actors, he has spent his career telling stories about his country, most recently in Deutsches Haus, the acclaimed series inspired by the first Frankfurt Auschwitz trial. He is not a politician. Yet Germany's democratic anxieties belong to everyone, not only to those who sit in parliament.

So we begin with a question that still echoes more than thirty years after reunification: is there still a border between East and West Germany?

For Wagner, that border no longer divides territories. It divides experiences. While one part of the country had decades to learn democracy, the other was suddenly asked to live it. Perhaps that helps explain why some Germans are once again longing for a state that promises to take care of everything.

Memory, too, can become a political battleground. We discuss how Germany confronted the legacy of the Third Reich, why acknowledging historical responsibility should never be mistaken for inherited guilt, and how the far right turns fear into identity while offering very few answers to the problems it claims to solve.

As the German Left struggles to offer a compelling political vision, many mainstream parties have chosen an easier path: echoing the language of the Alternative für Deutschland. But, Wagner warns, voters will always prefer the original.

His answer is surprisingly simple: do not wait for the state to organise your life. Join a club. A theatre. A sports association. A political party. Meet people. Build communities.

Democracy does not organise itself.

People do.

Because democracy begins at home.

With reason, not rage.

In this episode:

∙ Is there still a border between East and West Germany?

∙ The Wall that still divides Germany

∙ Responsibility without guilt: remembering the Third Reich

∙ The first Frankfurt Auschwitz trial and why memory still matters

∙ Why echoing the AfD only strengthens the AfD

∙ Germany's cultural sector under pressure

∙ Can art still challenge power?

∙ Why young Europeans still believe in a federal Union

∙ Democracy starts when isolation ends

Timestamps

0:00 – Introduction

1:30 – The border between East and West Germany

7:35 – They promised to take care of the people

11:50 – The Berlin Wall shaped many generations

13:28 – The feeling of guilt among young Germans

20:05 – The true Alternative for Germany

25:09 – The populists sell lies

28:00 – Where is the money?

33:20 – The German Left and Sahra Wagenknecht

36:30 – Less money and more censorship for intellectuals

45:00 – The next five years in Germany

47:00 – Youth is working for a federal Union

51:00 – Stop your isolation

Author and host: Ivan Scalfarotto

Editor and social media: Ludovica Taurisano

Graphic designer: Paola De Bartolo

Visual identity: Martina Santurri

Sound designer: Enrico Cabua