Germans know next to nothing about their chancellor's health

Donald Trump is doing well. The US president is in "excellent cognitive and physical health" and is "fully fit to execute the duties of the Commander-in-Chief and Head of State," according to a report by White House physician and former US Navy Captain Sean Barbabella.

The memorandum was released on Sunday and states Trump's exact height, weight, blood pressure and resting heart rate.

Interested parties could read about the medical exams Trump underwent during his routine physical, which medications he's taking to control his cholesterol and that he had his appendix removed when he was 11.

Captain Barbabella also noted Trump passed a cognitive function test with full marks, and that his excellent condition is due to his "active lifestyle," pointing out that Trump has won many a golf event.

You'd be hard-pressed to find any information like that on Germany's chancellor Olaf Scholz ― and not just because the man isn't known to play a lot of golf.

In Germany, the public knows next to nothing about the health of their head of government.

Image: Mike Stobe/Getty Images

No personal physician for the German chancellor

DW sent a request to the government press office, asking for information as to which doctor treats the chancellor, why there is so little public information about his health and where past heads of government went for treatment (no digging for sensitive information on whether Scholz still has his appendix, or his blood pressure status). 

"We ask for your understanding," the reply begins, only to go on: "We do not comment on the chancellor's medical care on principle."

What we do know is that the German chancellor does not have a personal physician. Unless there is a specific concern, the head of government does not bring medical professionals on business trips or state visits.

In Berlin, there's no doctor permanently set up at the chancellery, and if one is needed, the renowned Charité hospital is a five-minute drive away.

Why does the chancellor not have a personal doctor?

Olaf Scholz probably doesn't have to wait in a crowded waiting room. And Angela Merkel likely didn't have to wait months for a specialist appointment during her 16 years in office.

Still, some might wonder why the head of government of Europe's largest economy doesn't have a personal physician at their beck and call.

One reason could be the trust in Germany's robust public health care system. Another explanation for the stark difference between the medical care of the US and the German leader could be their different standing in terms of power.

"The level of power any German politician holds doesn't even come close to the power of the US president," Ronald D. Gerste, a German ophthalmologist and historian who lives in Washington, D.C., told medical news portal Coliquio.

"Germany's political processes wouldn't be significantly impacted if the chancellor fell ill, since Germany is not a presidential democracy ― the Cabinet would continue to meet and make decisions as well."

One of the few times a chancellor's health was the topic of public discussion was after Chancellor Scholz injured himself while going for a run and had to wear an eyepatch in 2023Image: ANGELIKA WARMUTH/REUTERS

A greater respect for privacy in Germany

If Germans have little information about the health of their leaders, it may be due to culture.

Unless there is an obvious reason for concern, few German reporters would think to enquire about the chancellor's heart rate or medication intake.

Germans value their privacy and that goes for the chancellor as well.

"On principle, the media in Germany respects politicians' privacy more than they do in the US today," Gerste said. "So you act discreetly when it comes to the topic of illnesses of those in power."

That doesn't mean, of course, that chancellors don't get sick. There just usually aren't public reports about it.

Depression, fainting spells, tremors

Willy Brandt, chancellor from 1969 to 1974, was rumored to have depression; he would regularly retreat from public life for a few days.

Shortly before stepping down, a statement was released saying he suffered from "a cold and a fever." Years later, Brandt admitted that "in reality, I was exhausted."

His successor, Helmut Schmidt, said he passed out "around 100 times" while in office from 1974 to 1982.

Schmidt had Adams–Stokes syndrome, which comes with intermittent fainting spells that are the result of complete heart stoppage. "I was out for a few seconds, sometimes minutes at a time," Schmidt said. "We successfully kept it a secret and it didn't stop me from doing my job."

Angela Merkel only talked more about her health when she was no longer chancellorImage: ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

More recently, chancellor Angela Merkel was seen shaking in public a couple of times in the summer of 2019, triggering rare questions from the press about her health.

The official reason given for the tremors was dehydration. Only after she had left office did Merkel admit that high temperatures and dehydration weren't the only reason.

"My mother's death had really gotten to me," she revealed in a 2022 interview.

Merkel and her mother had been very close before the elder's passing in April 2019 ― around two months before Merkel's first tremor in public.     

Edited by: Matthew Ward Agius