For the past year and a half, Giovanni di Lorenzo has invited former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt to his Hamburg office every Friday noon for a cigarette. And then the battle of words begins, a game of hide and seek, an interplay of provocation and rebukes, opinions and analyses, which now delights over a million readers of Die Zeit both young and old. This is the article many readers turn to first – on the very last page of the colour supplement. The interviews sometimes last 10 minutes, sometimes an hour. What remains is a unique blend of political views, personal revelations and experienced history: we read about Schmidt’s anger at investment bankers, about the waltz he once danced with Princess Grace and his schooldays with his wife Loki.
No other politician in Germany is so interesting to read about. Helmut Schmidt is not only Germany’s most famous smoker, he is also a witness of the 20th century and his authority remains unbroken until the present day. He’s never afraid to say his mind – sometimes brutally, but usually with his subtle Hanseatic charm. Auf eine Zigarette mit Helmut Schmidt is a collection of the best conversations in Die Zeit, supplemented by a number of previously unpublished interviews.
