Martin Schulz on Reading, Literature and German Politics in Der Freitag Interview

In a Der Freitag interview, former German chancellor candidate Martin Schulz discusses what he reads and what his reading reveals about his politics. The conversation opens by referencing a recent Freitag debate piece that asked why leaders of authoritarian regimes often appear better educated than Western top politicians. The interview notes that German politics is not entirely lacking in intellectually well-read figures and names Schulz as one example. Asked whether he can think of well-read colleagues for whom literature genuinely matters, including for their politics, Schulz says Sahra Wagenknecht comes most readily to mind, adding that one can think of her what one will. The discussion also recalls 2017, described as an extremely stressful period, when a reformer figure gave him stability. The interview is framed around the question of what a man who once wanted to become chancellor reads in his free time and what that says about his politics.