Contemplative Christmas beyond sentimental commercials – the weekly review from the editor-in-chief

The term “contemplation”, which is often used at Christmas time, has honestly become more of a buzzword for me in recent years. A term for supermarket Christmas commercials in which people restore world peace with a bockwurst shared. But this year the term was filled with a new seriousness for me: Even if we in Germany are groaning under the high inflation rate and many are concerned about the economic development of the coming year – we are usually not afraid for our lives. That’s a reason for joy, we should think about it.

Accordingly, I was particularly pleased about our positive Friday title. As every year, we have chosen the “People of the Year” at this point. The result is a great issue in which, among other things, Douglas supervisory board member Tina Müller writes about the new Adidas boss Björn Gulden or multi-supervisory board member Joe Kaeser about Robert Habeck as “politician of the year”.

In my – as you have probably already noticed – very contemplative Christmas mood – I was particularly pleased about the comment of my editor-in-chief Kirsten Ludowig. “We are all people of the year,” she writes.

What else kept us busy this week:

1. It was an appearance for the history books: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week officially traveled abroad for the first time since the war began. However, the destination was not Brussels, but Washington, where President Joe Biden received him. Prior to the visit, Biden had confirmed that the US government would deliver the Patriot anti-aircraft system to Ukraine — and support the country with an additional $1.8 billion. Our Washington correspondent Annett Meiritz writes about the encounter: “Selenski wanted to shake people up.” What does he wish for the American people? “To see your children alive. That you don’t have to see her die like so many of the parents in Ukraine. And that we win this war together.”

2. This exclusive Handelsblatt story was discussed in Germany this week – also in the Handelsblatt editorial office. The Lufthansa board around Carsten Spohr should receive bonus payments for 2021 and 2022 – despite more than nine billion euros in state aid during the corona pandemic. This has now been repaid and the bonus is only to be paid out from 2025, as a long-term bonus. Nevertheless, not everyone is happy with the regulation – the question of bonuses was one of the main points of discussion in the Coronahilfe.

3. For Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht and the armaments companies Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, the past few weeks have not been exactly comfortable in terms of reporting. Lambrecht has long been accused of not having her house under control, as colleague Frank Specht wrote this week. The report that 18 Puma tanks supposedly fit for combat failed after a target practice session didn’t exactly help. Lambrecht now played the ball back to the manufacturers, who are supposed to make the tanks operational again by the end of the year.

4. The entrepreneur Reinhold Würth was born in 1935 – so he can tell a lot about crises. All the more sobering is his answer to Kirsten Ludowig and Martin Buchenau’s request to give us a little encouragement in an interview: “To be honest, there isn’t that much reason to encourage us. I’m 87 years old and I’ve never experienced such an accumulation of negativism as an entrepreneur.” However, he did find a reason to celebrate in the course of the conversation.

5. The state has to shoulder more and more expenses and saves itself in the process? My colleagues Jan Hildebrand and Martin Greive have examined this statement in more detail. Your balance sheet: The myth of the ruined state is not tenable – but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t very weak in some places. For a clear analysis, we also prepared the topic in seven graphics – this one particularly concerned me:

6. How could it possibly come this far? Many have this question after that spectacular hacker attack at the automotive supplier Continental placed in summer. 40 terabytes of data were stolen in the process – and colleagues Michael Verfürden and Roman Tyborski found an answer to the question this week. As is so often the case with hacker attacks, it was apparently the mistake of an individual that opened the door to data theft.

7. A year ago, the Italian fashion group Zegna went public. Our Italy correspondent Christian Wermke was able to meet its CEO Ermenegildo Zegna and chief designer Alessandro Sartori. In this very readable long read, he shows how both managed the change from a family business to a luxury group.

8th. Part-time work for a better work-life balance – that sounds logical at first. In reality, however, especially with highly qualified part-time employees, overtime only accumulates – and with a lower salary. The text “That’s why part-time work for highly qualified people is often self-deception” by our colleague Franziska Telser was of particular interest to many of our readers this week.

9. What year is ahead of us? Our editor-in-chief Sebastian Matthes has dedicated himself to this question – in 16 personal theses. Unlike Reinhold Würth (see point 4), he also finds reasons for optimism there. I find his 16th thesis, the human urge for freedom, particularly noteworthy – and it also gives me hope.

I wish you happy holidays,
Best regards
your

Charlotte Haunhorst