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German political rivals revive 'pizza connection'
German political rivals revive 'pizza connection'
Jens Thurau06/07/2026June 7, 2026An unusual forum for exchange between German conservative and Greens politicians emerged 30 years ago in the form of the "pizza connection." Now that format is being revived in a changed political landscape.
https://p.dw.com/p/5EjzdHeading into a recent meeting of her party's parliamentary group, Green Party co-leader Franziska Brantner almost casually announced a surprise: At a meeting of all 85 federal Greens lawmakers held in Leipzig at the end of April, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, former head of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), had been an invited guest.
"Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is the chairperson of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, which is working on the question, as are we, of what we can do to prevent society from falling apart at this time," the Greens' other co-leader, Felix Banaszak, told DW. "That also requires a union of the political mainstream."
The Konrad Adenauer Foundation is a think tank that is nominally independent, but closely aligned with the CDU.
CDU, Greens still at odds a year ago
As recently as last year, the Greens and the conservatives were viewed as politically incompatible — at least on the national level.
The conservative Union, of the CDU and its Bavarian counterpart the Christian Social Union (CSU), declared the Greens as one of their main rivals during the 2025 federal election campaign. After all, at the time the Greens were in a minority government with the center-left Social Democrats after the neoliberal Free Democrats left the coalition due to a dispute, triggering the early vote.
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For many months, this statement from Friedrich Merz, who would later become chancellor, rang in the ears of the Greens: "There is no left-wing majority and no left-wing politics anymore in Germany," Merz said while campaigning in Munich shortly before the election, adding that he wouldn't make policies "for the green and left crackpots of this world."
What is the 'pizza connection'?
Time has passed, and the Greens are now an opposition party. Some of the political storms have calmed, and there have been reports of individual politicians from both sides meeting regularly once again. In German political lore, the catchphrase for this is "pizza connection."
But what do German politicians from the Greens and the conservative parties have to do with the renowned Italian dish?
About 30 years ago, in the mid-1990s, representatives of the CDU and the Greens, then fierce rivals, met at an Italian restaurant in the western city of Bonn. At the time, the city was the headquarters of Germany's government and parliament. Cem Özdemir, who is now the state premier of Baden-Württemberg, was one of the Greens politicians there, as was Steffi Lemke, who would later serve as German environment minister.
The conservative contingent included Peter Altmaier, who would later serve in Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet, and CDU foreign policy specialist Norbert Röttgen, who remains influential today. Their goals: to explore common ground and discuss differences.
Despite the phrase becoming established German political shorthand, according to several sources pizza was never actually served at the meetings.
New conversations at secret Berlin location
Following the frosty relations of the past year, there is now a new "pizza connection" — this time in Berlin, as reported in several German media outlets. The participants as well as the location are being kept secret by both sides.
However, the Greens' Brantner told DW: "The pizza connection has been around for a very long time, and it is now the new generation's turn. And it is good that it exists again, along with other channels of communication."
The Greens and conservatives might be opponents in the Bundestag federal parliament, but in two German states, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein, CDU state premiers lead coalition governments which include the Greens. In Baden-Württemberg, the Greens are the largest party and have for years led the state government in coalition with the CDU, since May under new state premier Özdemir.
"I see it as positive for our democracy if the CDU and CSU realize, and perhaps Mr. Söder will too, that the Greens are not the main adversary," said Brantner. "However, that does not mean that I have any special fondness for Mr. Söder or Mr. Merz."
CSU leader Markus Söder, the state premier of Bavaria, continually attacked the Greens on the 2025 campaign trail. Scars remain, especially for those most targeted: former Greens Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck recently took part in a panel discussion organized by news magazine Spiegel and said of the CSU leader: "Markus Söder is one of those people I admire nothing about."
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Greens beating SPD in the polls
Although there seem to be several unresolved issues between the Greens and the current leadership of the conservative Union, many politicians from both sides want to talk about whether the parties could work together more closely on the federal level in the future.
This is partly because the Greens have recently been polling higher than the Social Democrats — the current coalition partner of the CDU/CSU in the federal government. That means the environmentalist party could become increasingly important as a potential partner.
The venue for the initial talks in the 1990s, the Italian restaurant Sassella in the Bonn suburb of Kessenich, closed a year ago. But it has since reopened under new management as a pasta and wine bar. For Germany's conservatives and Greens, too, perhaps there is also a shared future under new circumstances.
This article was originally written in German.
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