ARCHIV - 15.04.2021, Berlin: Fahnen vom Fernsehsender und Radiosender Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg rbb wehen am Sitz des Senders in der Masurenallee. (zu dpa "RBB-Affäre hat erste personelle Konsequenzen") Foto: Jens Kalaene/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa +++ dpa-Bildfunk +++

Sometimes the little things are important, such as the cost of RBB director Patricia Schlesinger’s official dinner. Schlesinger, who is also chairwoman of the ARD, met nine times in her private rooms with “multipliers of this city and the country”. The goal: to better anchor the Berlin-Brandenburg radio station in the city. It should also be about saving. However, the RBB and Schlesinger were accused of having pushed for the number of people billed to be changed afterwards – which the director rejects. Sometimes guests jumped off or others accompanied them, she explained in an interview with the Tagesspiegel.

Schlesinger caused astonishment with her information on the costs of entertaining the guests. For the three to eleven guests who were present at the nine meetings, costs of 23.12 to 56.53 euros per person were incurred, Schlesinger had informed the Brandenburg State Chancellery as the media supervisor of the RBB. Understandably, the question about the drinks came immediately.

In a letter to Marietta Eisenhauer, head of the broadcasting, media and digital society department in the Brandenburg State Chancellery, she now submitted this information. “The average cost of food and drinks was 69.20 euros gross,” the letter says. However, Schlesinger remains silent about the participants of the dinner.

The only problem is: In order to be able to judge whether that is a lot or a little compared to the food, you would also need this average price – and it cannot be calculated easily. The question also arises: Were there any other costs that the caterer charged? One thing is certain: Patricia Schlesinger has completely different concerns at the moment.