Studio 9. The Day with Wolfgang Schmidt. Deutschlandfunk Kultur - live from the Humboldt Forum in Berlin

Here you can experience radio up close, to watch and also to join in the discussion. An engaging conversation about the issues of the day, broadcast throughout the republic, made in the new old centre of Berlin, in the rebuilt City Palace.

Wolfgang Schmidt has been head of the Chancellery for three years, since 2021. During this time, he was considered one of the most influential politicians in Berlin and Olaf Scholz’s closest confidant. Officially, the lawyer was supposed to coordinate cooperation between the ministries. As ‘Olaf Scholz’s right-hand man’, the 54-year-old was primarily responsible for the cohesion of the traffic light coalition.

Wolfgang Schmidt actually wanted to become a judge. But in 2002, Olaf Scholz offered him the chance to work with him. He became his advisor and later his office manager.

As State Councillor, the SPD politician represented Hamburg’s interests in Berlin and Brussels. He narrowly missed out on a place in the Bundestag in the 2025 election.

And that’s Wolfgang Schmidt too: he scored goals for HSV and is a fan of FC St. Pauli. Not possible? Well, he can! Born in Hamburg, he played ice hockey for HSV and has had a season ticket for the Kiezkickers for three decades.

Further information:

• free of charge
  
• from 11.50 a.m. to 1 p.m. (start of live broadcast at 12.05 p.m.)
  
• Talk
  
• Language: German
  
• Mechanical Arena in the Foyer
  

(Program in German)