Survey: Germany's "Man of the Year" and "Most Annoying Man of the Year"

Munich - The men's magazine Playboy wanted to know after this turbulent year: Who are Germany's "Man of the Year" and - as a poll antagonist - "Most Annoying Man of the Year"?

It wasn't enough for the European Championship title. But he was able to shoot his way into the hearts of the Germans: record-breaking professional footballer Toni Kroos (34).
It wasn't enough for the European Championship title. But he was able to shoot his way into the hearts of the Germans: record-breaking professional footballer Toni Kroos (34).  © Miguel Medina/AFP

The positive prize goes to sport, while the less popular win goes to politics - unsurprisingly.

Things didn't go as hoped at the European Championship , but at least one person can still look forward to the 2024 final sprint in the fans' favor.

Outgoing record-breaking professional footballer Toni Kroos was voted "Man of the Year" by those surveyed. MVP of the hearts - across all genres.

In the large pool of numerous potential candidates, 17% of the votes were enough for him to land at the top of the throne.

He was followed by NBA star and reigning basketball world champion Dennis Schröder (10 percent), closely followed by national soccer team coach Julian Nagelsmann (9.5 percent), gold medal swimmer Lukas Märtens (9 percent) and reigning German soccer champion Florian Wirtz (8 percent).

As you can see: Sport - and not just soccer - was a very big topic among the 1033 representative men and women surveyed by the Norstat opinion research institute.

Ampel politicians in the "top" places

At least here at the top: In the negative ranking, Christian Lindner (45, from left), Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck (55) and Olaf Scholz (66) are on the podium.
At least here at the top: In the negative ranking, Christian Lindner (45, from left), Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck (55) and Olaf Scholz (66) are on the podium.  © Tobias SCHWARZ/AFP

The participants were also unanimous in the area of politics - admittedly, this is also somewhat in the nature of things. All of the top 5 annoyances come from this area.

Olaf Scholz , still chancellor and incumbent SPD candidate for his own seat, is at the top of the negative list with 35%.

And because the "traffic light" government was probably taken as a role model, the next two places on the podium are almost to be expected: Robert Habeck in the green corner is also vice chancellor in the negative ranking with 31%.

In third place with 28% is former Finance Minister Christian Lindner from the FDP - or whatever it might be called after the early federal elections: Other.

He is followed by AfD politician Maximilian Krah with a quarter of the vote and CDU/CSU chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz with 23%.

However - as much transparency is necessary - this survey was conducted before the final coalition collapse and the end of the "Ampel" coalition. If you would like to find out more, the January issue of Playboy will be published on December 5.