"Ask your daughters" After Merz's "cityscape" statement - protests planned in front of CDU headquarters

Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz has sparked a controversial debate with his statement that migration impairs the "cityscape". Despite harsh criticism from his own CDU and coalition partners, he is sticking to his call for increased repatriations.

Keystone-SDA

21.10.2025, 15:30

21.10.2025, 15:38

SDA

Friedrich Merz has made several public statements claiming that there are problems in the "cityscape" in connection with migration and that these could be solved by deportations. His statements have now been met with fierce criticism from within his own party and from his coalition partner.

The head of the social wing of Merz's Christian Democratic party CDU, Dennis Radtke, told the Funke media group newspapers: "Of course we have a disturbing cityscape in many places, but to suggest that this would change through deportations is too short-sighted, raises unfulfillable expectations and does not do justice to the complexity of the problem."

The statement is also a problem for the coalition. The Secretary General of the Social Democratic SPD - the junior partner in the coalition - Tim Klüssendorf, accused Merz of being divisive. Environmental and climate activist Luisa Neubauer called for a spontaneous demonstration in front of the CDU federal office in Berlin.

Merz did not want to comment on the issue at a press conference in Stuttgart today. "What I meant by this word - said so last week in Potsdam, repeated again yesterday in a press conference - has been clearly clarified."

Merz: "Ask your daughters"

The starting point for the debate is a statement made by the head of government at a press conference in Potsdam in response to a reporter's question about the rise of the right-wing populist AfD. In response, Merz said, among other things, that previous failings in migration policy were being corrected and progress was being made. "But of course we still have this problem in the cityscape, and that is why the Federal Minister of the Interior is also in the process of facilitating and carrying out repatriations on a very large scale."

At another press conference on Monday, Merz was asked what exactly he meant by this, what he wanted to achieve with it and whether he had anything to take back. "I have nothing to take back," he said in response.

"Ask your daughters what I might have meant by that. I suspect you'll get a pretty clear and unambiguous answer. I have nothing to take back. On the contrary. I would like to emphasize once again: we have to change something about this, and the Federal Minister of the Interior is in the process of changing something, and we will continue this policy." Merz himself has two daughters and a total of seven grandchildren.

Daughters want to demonstrate in front of CDU headquarters

The conservative chancellor's comments were perceived by many as discriminatory. 29-year-old climate activist Neubauer wrote on Instagram: "We are plus-minus 40 million daughters in this country. We have a genuine interest in our safety being addressed. What we don't want at all is to be misused as an excuse or justification for statements that, on balance, were simply discriminatory, racist and comprehensively offensive."

The Berlin police confirmed that a demonstration with 300 participants has been registered for today at the Konrad Adenauer House - the CDU federal headquarters. It will take place under the slogan "Feminist rally: We are the daughters". There is also to be a demonstration in Kiel on Wednesday, organized by Fridays for Future.

On Sunday, there was already a demonstration under the slogan "Brandmauer hoch! We are the cityscape" at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Merz commented on this with the words: "Anyone who thinks they have to demonstrate against it should do so. But then they also expose themselves to the question of whether they have an interest in solving a problem or whether they are more interested in possibly driving a wedge into our society."

Radtke: Merz is no longer the "whimsical commentator"

However, the Christian Democratic Union (from the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU) has also criticized the CDU party leader's statement - and doubted whether he is fulfilling his role as Federal Chancellor.

"Friedrich Merz is no longer the whimsical commentator on the sidelines who takes a swipe, but as Chancellor he has a special responsibility for the cohesion of our society, the culture of debate and a positive narrative for the future," warned Dennis Radtke, Chairman of the Christian Democratic Workers' Union of Germany (CDA).

However, Radtke's criticism is initially an individual voice. Numerous CDU/CSU politicians came to Merz's defense. "The fact that illegal migration changes the appearance of our cities corresponds to the normal perception of many people - and I also consider it to be a fact," said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) to Bild.

CSU state group leader Alexander Hoffmann expressed similar sentiments. "By criticizing the Chancellor, the Left-Greens are pursuing a policy of outrage that ignores reality," the head of the CSU members of the Bundestag, the German parliament, told the German Press Agency (dpa).

Backing from the Junge Union

Merz also received backing from the chairman of the Junge Union (JU), Johannes Winkel: "What Friedrich Merz has described is of course true: we have been experiencing an increase in violent crime for years, including drug-related crime, and we are also seeing an increase in Islamism in Germany, and if you address this, then you are not a racist, but a realist," said the CDU member of parliament on Deutschlandfunk radio.

The women's rights organization Terre des Femmes pointed out that violence against women does not primarily take place on the streets. "The most dangerous place for a woman is still her own home," said the federal director of Terre des Femmes, Christa Stolle, to dpa.