Overview

• Markus Söder traveled from Hamburg on the Halunder Jet for a short stay that featured a town-hall reception, an island tour, a Börteboot trip to the Düne and a festive cultural evening.
• He joined a shanty choir for a brief solo performance, signed Helgoland’s Golden Book and documented the trip with social-media clips.
• Schleswig-Holstein Minister-President Daniel Günther said he was surprised by the uncoordinated visit, noting Söder was traveling on his own initiative.
• The invitation came from Mayor Thorsten Pollmann and tourism director Katharina Schlicht, with the municipality citing Söder’s earlier joke that Sylt and Helgoland would be Bavarian under the financial equalization logic.
• Opinion pieces cast the trip as image-building tied to Bavaria’s grievances over the Länderfinanzausgleich, while Söder promoted Helgoland as a must-see and praised Hamburg over Berlin.