Robert Habeck is throwing in the towel. Formerly vice-chancellor and economy minister under Olaf Scholz’s kaput traffic light coalition, the onetime Greens leader has this week announced his resignation from the Bundestag. Rather than sit out the current term in opposition, he will dedicate a few years “researching, teaching and learning” at universities in Copenhagen and California. 

Despite his non-confrontational style of politics, the erstwhile children’s author is still a polarizing figure. Habeck naively believed the Greens and their partners — the center-left SPD and the business-friendly liberal FDP — could inhabit the center ground of German politics and actually get things done after years of stasis under Angela Merkel. He aimed for a net-zero climate policy that got German industry on board by funneling billions into questionable projects such as “green steel” and building ever more wind turbines. While it was visionary for some, other voters disagreed with the level of state control of the economy. 

In truth, the three-way coalition agreed on little beyond decriminalization of cannabis. The FDP pulled out at the end of 2024 and the Greens bombed in the subsequent Bundestag elections in February; they managed just 11.6% of the vote, down from 14.7% in 2021. Under Habeck and his co-chair, then-Foreign Minister Annelena Baerbock, the Greens dreamt of becoming Kanzlerpartei: the chancellor’s party. That bubble has burst.

In 2021 climate was still the primary concern of many Germans, but the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting oil shock changed priorities. Add to that the increasing cost of living, the flatlining and deindustrializing economy, and the increasing burden on the welfare state of mass immigration, and suddenly the climate became less important to voters.

When Germany stopped mainlining Russian gas, Habeck traveled the world to ensure a supply of liquefied natural gas from Qatar and the US, saving the economy from total disaster. But this did not lead to economic growth. What took down the Green leader, rather, was a convoluted plan to force homeowners to install expensive, climate-friendly heat pumps in the middle of the economic crisis. Habeck became a hate figure for voters, especially among former East Germans, who were weary of top-down state meddling. 

As the most pro-Ukrainian and anti-Russian of any German party, the Greens have struggled with the ongoing war. They have been staunchly in favor of arms shipments to Kyiv although, given the party’s original commitment to pacifism, this has been a point of contention for “fundi” (fundamentalist) Greens. As a result, they have lost some supporters to the Left-wing anti-war Die Linke.

What’s more, the German Greens have become firmly part of the technocratic establishment, and are no longer viewed as rebels. As such, voters wanting radical change look elsewhere, namely to the AfD, which has branded itself as the antithesis of Green wokeness and “climate madness”. The Greens have also been unabashedly pro-refugee just as German opinion on the matter has taken a sharp U-turn. 

Another reason for the Greens’ demise is that the “sensible” Habeck style doesn’t play well in the age of short-form video. Both the AfD and Die Linke excel at appealing to younger voters on TikTok. Green proposals such as “veggie day” in public canteens, not to mention crusades for gender-neutral language, are mocked by opponents. Their enemies score easy points portraying them as out-of-touch, matcha-sipping vegans who don’t understand that most normal folk still need cheap petrol cars to get around.

So where do the Greens go from here? There is a strong current of idealism in German politics and, as seen at the last election, around 10% of voters remain tied to the cause. The party still punches above its weight in terms of influence and membership. Despite predictions of terminal demise, the Greens will remain an important piece in Germany’s fragmented political mosaic. If Friedrich Merz’s CDU-SPD coalition fails to bring the economy back to life — and things aren’t looking great — then the AfD could win the next Bundestag election in four years and the Greens could play a key role in cobbling together a patchwork government out of the diminished centrist parties to set up a far-Right firewall.

Now, in opposition, it is time for soul-searching. But when the political winds change, as they always do, expect Habeck to sniff out another opportunity. 

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Maurice Frank co-founded the English magazine Exberliner and now co-writes the newsletter 20 Percent Berlin. 

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