The breakup of the traffic light coalition and the bringing forward of the federal election is causing party donations to rise sharply. A real rain of money has fallen on the CDU in particular, as the publication by the German Bundestag shows. The party replenished its campaign coffers with 1,952 million euros in a month between November 6th and December 6th through large donations starting at 35,000 euros. This means that the CDU took in far more than all the other parties represented in the Bundestag combined.
By far the largest single amount goes to a party that does not sit in the Bundestag: the European party Volt received one million euros from its member Thadaeus Friedemann Otto, a singer from Goslar. Among the Bundestag parties, the FDP came in second place with donations totaling 820,000 euros, followed by the Greens with 245,000 euros, the SPD with 220,000, the CSU with 100,000 and the BSW with 50,000 euros. The Left and the AfD have been left empty-handed since the traffic light broke.
The increase in the flow of donations is nothing unusual, but is regularly observed before federal elections. In this election campaign, it is possible to understand even more precisely to what extent the parties are benefiting from this. The threshold that must be reported immediately by the Bundestag administration's expenses has been reduced from 50,000 to 35,000 euros. The Bundestag will then promptly publish these donations on its website.
