New partners at state level
The CDU and Bündnis 90/Die Grünen want to govern together in a federal state for the first time.
A black-green Hesse. A new government alliance is causing a stir in the federal state of Hesse. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Alliance 90/The Greens aim to be the first so-called Black-Green Coalition to govern a federal German state, as opposed to a city-state. Coalitions by the Greens, whose origins are closely linked with the anti-nuclear and the peace movements, with the traditionally conservative CDU have so far only existed twice at federal state level, and in each case for only a short period of time: in the Saarland, CDU and Greens governed jointly with the Free Democratic Party (FDP) from 2009 to 2012; in the city-state of Hamburg from 2008 to 2010. The fact that of all places in the fiercely contested state of Hesse a so-called Black Green Coalition has emerged is seen by many observers as a significant change – and a possible pointer to future coalition options at national level. By contrast, collaboration between the supposedly conflicting parties is already relatively well-established at municipal level. Here too Hesse, with the cities of Darmstadt and especially the financial metropolis of Frankfurt, has played a pioneering role.
