“A Heart for Children” Gala
Merz, Lindner and Co.: How generous were their donations?
Updated on December 9, 2024Reading time: 2 min.
Many politicians donated to the good cause at the “A Heart for Children” gala. How generous were they really?
On Saturday it was that time again: At the “A Heart for Children” fundraising gala broadcast on ZDF, the country’s political celebrities came together and presented their charitable side. SPD leader Lars Klingbeil donated 500 euros to the good cause, CSU chairman Markus Söder and former finance minister Christian Lindner each donated 2,000, and CDU leader Friedrich Merz even gave 4,000 euros. Generous at first glance. But how much do politicians actually earn?
The MPs’ salary used to be called a “diet” and is now officially called “expenses allowance”. It has been 11,227.20 euros since July 1st. In addition, MPs are entitled to a tax-free allowance of EUR 5,051.54.
As the Bundestag explains on its website, the flat rate is intended to cover the costs that “incur in exercising the mandate”. For example, office supplies or, if necessary, a second home in Berlin.
In addition to this payment, other income may arise – for example for lectures, public appearances or monthly payments for party offices. The positions of party and parliamentary group leaders are sometimes well paid.
During their time as party leaders, Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans received an additional 9,000 euros in additional expense allowance per month – in addition to their MP diet. However, chairmen can also waive this payment. Andrea Nahles, for example, refused the payment, as did Sigmar Gabriel as SPD chairman, as “Zeit” reports.
The CDU, on the other hand, decides on a case-by-case basis whether the party leaders are paid, according to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. If they are already earning money as MPs, the position would remain unpaid, but if they had to give up another position, the position would be paid at a similar level.
In the case of Friedrich Merz, this means that the party will no longer supplement his salary for the chairmanship. The FDP and CSU have a similar approach: for them, the position of party chairman is an unpaid honorary position.
Combined with his salary as a member of the Bundestag, Lars Klingbeil earns a monthly salary of 20,227.20 euros. The “A Heart for Children” donation of 500 euros makes up around 2.5 percent of his salary.
Since not all of Friedrich Merz and Christian Lindner’s income is disclosed, it cannot be said with certainty how much they actually earn – and how large the donation portion of their monthly salary is. If you only use the 11,227.20 euros as MP compensation, they are significantly more generous than Klingbeil. Merz then donates around 35.5 percent of his income, Lindner 18 percent.
Things look different again for Markus Söder. For his position as Bavarian Prime Minister, he is paid differently than the MPs – according to “focus.de” he receives more than 23,300 euros per month. The 2,000 euro donation is then around 8.5 percent of his salary.