Too out of touch? Friedrich Merz parked his plane with his friend Ulrich Bettermann.

According to a longtime friend, the likely future Chancellor, Friedrich Merz (CDU), has become more humble. "He used to be considerably more arrogant," Ulrich Bettermann told the German Press Agency.

The entrepreneur also pointed to Merz's appearance, who is 1.98 meters tall. "If you look down on people, you're definitely at a disadvantage. Perhaps you have to compensate for that with a little more humility," he advised the CDU politician.

Bettermann says he has been friends with Merz for almost 30 years. The two met at the Arnsberg-Menden airfield, which belongs to Bettermann's company and where Merz, a passionate pilot, keeps his twin-engine aircraft.

Whether he will be allowed to continue pursuing his hobby as Chancellor seems to have yet to be conclusively clarified. In the ARD program "Caren Miosga" in mid-April, he admitted: "I haven't asked anyone yet whether I'm allowed to do that." He refuses to ask that question at the moment.