Marie Wolf / Cicero / The secret finance ministers of Germany

For the latest issue of Cicero magazine, Marie Wolf created a series of editorial illustrations for an article examining how geopolitical decisions by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are reshaping Germany’s defence spending and the debt required to finance it. The article casts the two leaders as Germany’s “secret finance ministers,” whose actions influence the federal budget from beyond the country’s borders. Marie developed three distinct visual metaphors for the article: In the first, Trump appears as an attendant at an American gas station, refuelling a German tank. In the second, Trump and Putin sit opposite each other at a chess table, moving Germany as a piece in their geopolitical game. The third illustration shows German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil standing at the bow of the Titanic, his arms outstretched in the film’s iconic pose. The iceberg remains outside the frame, yet the impending collision is already present in the viewer’s mind. Drawing on familiar images from popular culture and film history, Marie transforms complex political and economic questions into bold, accessible visual storytelling with a playful yet unsettling undertone.

Art Director: Viola Schmieskors