Markus Lanz Tonight: The Heated Debate on National Service and Surprise Guest Toni Feller

I caught an episode of Markus Lanz again last night – and let me tell you, it was far from a casual chat. Things got real. The big question: Should military service become compulsory again for young men and women? Since the withdrawal from Afghanistan and rising tensions with Russia, this topic is back on the nation's coffee table. And last night, things got seriously controversial, largely thanks to 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 overcrowded military transporters and desperate people clinging to aircraft wings were still fresh in everyone's minds. The underlying question: Did the German military fail back then because it was a professional army without a sufficient reserve? That's precisely where the debate started. Then, Lanz suddenly brought a man forward from the second row, someone many 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

Seated 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 connection between the military and society. When 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 not just in an office, but, if necessary, with a weapon."
• Anna-Maria Wagner (Green Party): "I have great respect for Mr. Feller's service, but we cannot turn back the clock to the 80s. Compulsory service is a serious infringement on personal freedoms. We need a modern, high-tech army, not conscripts who end up bored for nine months without being of real use to anyone."
• Professor Klaus Bittner: "This isn't really about the military. It's about symbolic politics. The Afghanistan missions showed that the professional army was already stretched thin – more personnel wouldn't have prevented that chaos. What we need is a thorough political reckoning, not quick fixes."

When Feller Got Personal

Things got really interesting when Lanz probed further, asking Feller if he would truly be willing to send his own grandchildren to the front lines. The old colonel didn't flinch: "I have three grandsons of conscription age myself. When I see how they sometimes behave – glued to their phones, with no sense of duty – I sometimes wish they had to spend nine months learning what discipline and camaraderie mean. Not everyone has to handle a weapon 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 swallowing hard.

Wagner countered immediately: "That sounds like a parenting measure, Mr. Feller. But the state isn't a correctional facility for spoiled teenagers!" Feller remained calm, looked at her intently, and said: "Ms. Wagner, I was in Kunduz when we saw wounded comrades burning alive. That wasn't about education. That was about life and death. Believe me, we cannot afford this arrogance."

The Lessons from Afghanistan

Interestingly, Lanz kept circling back to the 2021 withdrawal. He played clips where German soldiers recounted their dependence on the Americans back then. Feller seized the moment: "That's precisely the point. A professional army quickly reaches its limits. If we truly want to be sovereign, we need a conscription-based army rooted in society. I'm not talking about a massive force, but one capable of expanding in an emergency." Bittner waved it off: "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 episode of Markus Lanz once again highlighted just how deep the divisions on this issue run. No one convinced the other, but perhaps some viewers had a rethink. Personally, I gained a lot of respect for Toni Feller. The man knows what he's talking about – even if I'm not sure his solution is the right one.

If you missed the show: It's available on demand – definitely worth catching up on!