Overview

• Olaf Scholz’s and Wolfgang Schmidt’s departures from the Chancellor’s Office ended an era of SPD dominance but did not, in Mayor Tschentscher’s view, diminish Hamburg’s influence in Berlin.
• Hamburg CDU Bundestag members now hold federal roles: Christoph Ploß as maritime coordinator, Christoph de Vries as interior state secretary, and Franziska Hoppermann as CDU national treasurer.
• Hamburg SPD parliamentarians maintain leverage in Berlin with Aydan Özoguz and Falko Droßmann in key leadership and defense positions and Metin Hakverdi coordinating transatlantic affairs.
• Tschentscher argues that the city’s robust economy, research institutions and innovation sector underpin its standing among German states.
• Hamburg continues to leverage a network of cross-party contacts and committee ties in federal ministries to advance its policy priorities.