Markus Lanz Tonight: The Heated Conscription Debate and Surprise Guest Toni Feller

I tuned into Markus Lanz again last night – and let me tell you, it was no tame chat. They got straight down to the nitty-gritty: Should military service become compulsory again for young men and women? Since the withdrawal from Afghanistan and rising tensions with Russia, the topic is back on the nation's coffee table. And last night, things got seriously controversial, mainly because of one guest: Toni Feller.

A Night with Real Firepower

Lanz kicked off the show by looking back at the chaos in Kabul five years ago. Images of crammed military transports and desperate people clinging to aircraft wings – they were still fresh in everyone's mind. The question hanging in the air: Did the German Armed Forces fail back then because it was a professional army without adequate reserves? That's precisely where the debate ignited. And suddenly, Lanz brought a man from the sidelines to the forefront, someone many previously only knew from specialist circles: Retired Colonel Toni Feller, a grey-haired veteran with tours in Kunduz and Mazar-i-Sharif under his belt.

The Guests and Their Stances

At the table, alongside Feller, were Green Party defence expert Anna-Maria Wagner and sociologist Professor Klaus Bittner, a long-time opponent of conscription. The battle lines were quickly drawn:

• Toni Feller (Colonel, ret.): "Abolishing conscription was a historic mistake. We severed the link between the military and society. If push comes to shove, we simply lack the personnel to meet our alliance commitments. Young people need to learn again to take responsibility for the community – and I mean not just in an office, but if necessary, with a weapon."
• Anna-Maria Wagner (Greens): "I have immense respect for Mr. Feller's service, but we can't turn the clock back to the 80s. Compulsory service is a profound intrusion on individual freedoms. We need a modern, high-tech army, not conscripts who'll spend nine months bored out of their brains, not really contributing anything."
• Professor Klaus Bittner: "This isn't really about the military at all. It's about symbolic politics. The Afghanistan missions showed the professional army was already stretched thin – more personnel wouldn't have prevented that chaos either. What we need is a thorough political reckoning, not knee-jerk reactions."

When Feller Got Personal

Things got really interesting when Lanz probed further, asking Feller if he'd genuinely be willing to send his own grandchildren to the front line. The old colonel wasn't backing down: "I have three grandsons of draft age myself. When I see how they carry on sometimes – glued to their phones, no sense of duty – I sometimes wish they'd have to spend nine months learning what discipline and camaraderie really mean. Not everyone has to shoot later on, but we need everyone for civil defence, for disaster relief. That has nothing to do with militarism." You could hear a pin drop in the studio. You could almost feel the other guests gulping.

Wagner countered immediately: "That sounds like a disciplinary measure, Mr. Feller. But the state isn't a reform school for spoilt brats!" Feller remained calm, looked her straight in the eye and said: "Ms. Wagner, I was in Kunduz when we saw wounded comrades burning. That wasn't about discipline. That was about life and death. Believe me, we can't afford that kind of arrogance."

The Lessons from Afghanistan

It was interesting how Lanz kept circling back to the 2021 withdrawal. He played clips where German soldiers recounted their dependence on the Americans back then. Feller seized on this: "That's precisely the point. A professional army hits its limit fast. If we truly want to be sovereign, we need a conscript army rooted in society. I'm not talking about a massive force, but one that can expand in an emergency." Bittner waved it away: "That's a militia idea completely out of touch with reality. We don't even have the equipment as it is!"

And so the debate raged on. In the end, everyone agreed that tonight's Markus Lanz show had once again highlighted just how deep the divisions on this issue run. No one convinced the other, but perhaps a few viewers at home had cause to rethink their own stance. I, for one, gained a lot of respect for Toni Feller. The bloke knows what he's talking about – even if I'm not entirely convinced his solution is the right one.

If you missed the show: you can catch up on demand later – definitely worth a look!