Insights into private life
This piece of clothing is taboo for Scholz
Updated on December 27, 2024Reading time: 2 min.
When he comes home after work, Olaf Scholz takes off his suit. Now he revealed what he prefers instead.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz is considered a man of formalities, including visually. He almost always wears a suit, tie and his briefcase. But when he comes home, he also makes himself comfortable, as he has now revealed. However, he draws a clear line.
In a “Zeit” podcast, the head of government chatted about the little free time a Federal Chancellor has left. If there are no further appointments, the former First Mayor of Hamburg will call it a day on Friday evening and drive to Potsdam, where he lives with his wife Britta Ernst. Once there, the suit is hung on the hanger. “When I get home I change straight away, that’s the first thing, then I wear some version of jeans,” he said on the podcast. “And what are you doing on the weekend?”.
When asked whether he wasn’t wearing sweatpants, Scholz made his position very clear: “No sweatpants. I’m totally following Karl Lagerfeld on that. I don’t want to say he’s right, but I could say he’s right.”
Karl Lagerfeld is often credited with the quote: “Anyone who wears sweatpants has lost control of their life.” It can be found in a slightly modified form in the book he authorized, “Karl on the World and Life”: “Sweatpants are a sign of defeat. You have lost control of your life and then you go out on the street in sweatpants .”
Something typically German is also missing from the Scholz-Ernst house: slippers. The 66-year-old said he doesn’t wear slippers, preferring to walk around barefoot. When government business is at a standstill, Scholz and his wife watch talk shows, but rarely on political topics. “I’m not always sure how interesting they are,” said Scholz.
And if he has a day off on Saturday, the Chancellor stays in bed longer – until shortly before eight o’clock. The SPD politician does not have any problems falling asleep despite the turbulent world situation and the upcoming federal elections. He could still drink coffee at 2 a.m. and then still go to sleep.
Scholz also gives a rare insight into his marriage to Britta Ernst. “I can say for myself: When Britta appeared in my life, it was clear to me very early on that she was exactly the woman I thought was great. I lusted after her and thought: She would never take me.” The two married in 1998. Britta Ernst is also a politician (SPD) and was Minister of Education in Schleswig-Holstein from 2014 to 2017 and later Minister of Education in Brandenburg.