Catching up with … Isabel Cademartori

Isabel Cademartori’s constituency office is located in the H square in the heart of Mannheim. The first thing that catches the eye when entering her study is a large black-and-white photograph of two elderly gentlemen hanging on the wall behind her desk. Among the items on that desk are an SPD pennant and two Coke bottles boasting “Mannheim” labels. Cademartori finishes a phone call before we sit down opposite each other in two armchairs, with coffee and water on the table between us. The coasters, of course, are red.

We begin with the standard question for our alumni: why Mannheim? “I was compelled by the university’s reputation. I didn’t know the city before, but my first impression of the palace was great,” says the 36-year-old lawmaker. “As a high school graduate, I thought that majoring in business administration would give me a lot of career options and a wide range of knowledge. That turned out to be true.” The word “entrepreneur” comes to mind when listening to Cademartori’s story: She has one office in Mannheim and one in Berlin, is the transport policy spokesperson for the SPD parliamentary group and thus in charge of at least eleven people. “We have established regular meetings so that I don’t forget the people in Mannheim when I’m in Berlin. And choosing my staff is a top priority for me, because we work very closely together and need good chemistry between us. So far, it has worked out well and we have seen very little turnover,” she points out. The teams also come together for two meetings each year, one in Berlin and one in Mannheim, to exchange ideas and experiences.

Politics runs in the family

“I have always been a very political person, which is not surprising given my family background. What’s remarkable is that it took me so long to find my way into politics,” Cademartori says – a reference to her Chilean grandfather, José Cademartori, a member of the Chilean parliament for decades and a minister in the 1970s. Following in his footsteps, his granddaughter initially got involved in university politics. One day she accompanied a friend to an SPD meeting. “That was the push I needed! That’s where I got hooked and then became involved quickly and heavily,” the politician recalls. She joined the party in 2012, got elected to the Mannheim City Council in 2019 and became active in the state parliament as well for a time.

Cademartori’s political work progressed alongside her studies. After her bachelor’s degree, she decided to pursue a master’s in economic and business education. “I didn't want to study pure business administration again. In economic and business education, I had a minor in history and seriously considered becoming a teacher,” she explains. After graduating, she worked as a research assistant at the Chair of Economic and Business Education. “An added bonus was that I could keep up my political activities in Mannheim.” When speaking about the city of squares, Cademartori uses terms like social democracy, working-class tradition, industrialism, but also culture and diversity. “Mannheim has inspired me so much through my work that I have become a fan and want to give something back,” she says, leaving no doubt about the passion she feels for the city.

After her election to the city council, she thought running for office in Berlin was a gamble. “But I said to myself, okay, let’s just give it a shot.” Today she lives a life divided between two cities with two apartments and double the amount of clothes. “It’s the only way to make this work: back-to-back meetings in Berlin followed by a trip to another city, then on to Mannheim and back to Berlin.” Although she routinely works 80 hours a week, you won’t hear any complaints: “I have turned my hobby into my profession, which I consider a privilege.”

The profession presumably comes with another privilege, at least for all non-politicians: As a Bundestag member, Cademartori knows Chancellor Olaf Scholz personally, meeting him every other week at SPD parliamentary group sessions. “The initial sparkle has worn off a bit,” she admits. But it is always exciting to be so close to him and to see what’s on his mind. “And sometimes it’s also funny to observe his facial expressions and gestures when there are no cameras around,” she says with a laugh.

“My work is a balancing act”

Cademartori laughs a lot, beaming with joy and gesticulating when she speaks. When talking to her, you can tell how proud she is of her achievements. Especially when she talks about projects she initiated as a member of the Mannheim City Council and now keeps pushing for as a member of parliament. “I don’t give away any money myself, but I know about project funds in parliament that cities can apply for. I make my political colleagues in Mannheim aware of these opportunities. My work really is a balancing act between federal and local politics,” she explains. Aside from obtaining project funding, she says it is just as important to her to advance political issues in the Bundesrat, Germany’s second legislative body representing the states – that is, to introduce laws that benefit Mannheim and the rest of the country.

At the end of our conversation, we talk about the photograph of the two gentlemen. They are Salvador Allende, former Chilean president in the 1970s, and Pablo Neruda, Chile’s best-known poet and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. “Both are left-wing icons of Chilean politics, and the picture is a small reminder of where I come from,” says Isabel Cademartori, the lawmaker with a passion for Mannheim, grinning mischievously when she says she never missed a Schneckenhof party in her days as a Mannheim student.

Text: Luisa Gebhardt / August 2024