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Berlin (German news agency) – The House of History considers the briefcase used by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) for about 40 years to be historically so important that it wants to include it in its collection. “I spoke to government spokesman Hebestreit and told him that at some point we would like to have Olaf Scholz’s briefcase,” said museum director Harald Biermann of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (Wednesday edition).
“The bag is captured in many pictures, it has historical value,” said Biermann, whose house has been depicting German history since 1945 and, with 14 million visitors since it opened in 1994, is one of the most visited museums in Germany. There is also this “almost iconic scene” when Scholz walks down the red carpet in Kiev, the briefcase in his left hand and with his right he shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. “This object is clearly associated with this Chancellor. And because he has used it for a long time, it has many signs of wear, which is always nice for us,” said the museum director. However, the SPD-affiliated Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation is also trying to get the chancellor’s bag, since briefcases belonging to Herbert Wehner and Willy Brandt are already in the archive of social democracy in Bonn. “The archive already has a deposit from Olaf Scholz with documents from various political functions,” said archive manager Anja Kruke of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. In addition to written documents, one is also interested in objects if these objects have a specific meaning and say something about the person. “With this in mind, we would of course like to include Olaf Scholz’ bag in our inventory later,” said Kruke. According to reports, the Chancellery has not yet determined what should happen to the bag if Scholz discards it. According to SZ, Scholz bought the cowhide bag in the early 1980s during his legal clerkship in Hamburg. According to the manufacturer, the “Times 16” model cost 890 Deutschmarks at the time. She accompanies him to government surveys in the Bundestag, to Prime Ministers’ conferences in the Chancellery and on state visits. Scholz should always carry his SPD party book and reading glasses in his bag, as well as daily newspapers, books and files.