Germany: Armed forces bid farewell to Angela Merkel with torches, anthems and East German punk

“Her 16 years as chancellor Germany “It was full of events – often very big challenges – both political and human,” the chancellor said. Angela Merkel, during the military ceremony organized in her honor by the Germans Armed forces and called them Germans “To see the world from the point of view of others”.

At his ceremony “Great Silence”, which has its roots in the 16th century and is reserved only for federal presidents, chancellors and Ministers of Defense, the Armed forces, in the light of the torches and the sounds of the military band, said “goodbye” to the chancellor, who is leaving the Chancellery after four terms. Presence of the federal president Frank-Walter Steinmeier, of the next chancellor Olaf Solts and other officials – significantly less than usual due to the pandemic – h Angela Merkel thanked them Germans for their confidence in her face and called on them to approach life “with a light heart” and to be optimistic about the future of their country. “Many crises have shown the importance of international co-operation,” she said Merkel and referred specifically to the coronavirus pandemic, which “showed how important it really is to have confidence in political leadership, in science and in public debate.” Democracy, he continued, “is also based on trust, solidarity, listening to each other and even facts.” “I would like to encourage you in the future to look at the world from the point of view of others,” he said.

She herself chose the ceremony to take place in his courtyard Ministry of Defense, its headquarters Imperial German Navy in 1914, later headquarters of German officers who tried to overthrow him Adolf Hitler in July 1944. The leaders of the project were executed there and at the site there is now a monument to the German resistance.

THE ‘Angela Merkel is the third chancellor to receive this honor. THE Helmut Coll, Chancellor from 1982 to 1998, was the first and the ceremony took place in his hometown, in Rhineland – Palatinate, σε UNESCO World Heritage Site. Respectively, the Gerhard Schroeder, Chancellor from 1998 to 2005, had chosen the ceremony to take place in his place of origin, the Hannover. THE Helmut Coll had dedicated his speech to the importance of peace and freedom and to the European idea, while Mr. Schroeder he had chosen not to speak.

The honored person chooses each time the music that their band will play Armed forces at the ceremony. Her choices Angela Merkel they were purely “German” and allowed us, for one of the rare occasions, to learn a little more about her. An 18th century Christian hymn, “Great God, glorify Your name”, refers to her origin, as the daughter of a Lutheran pastor, but also to his origins Christian Democratic Party (CDU), a popular German song of hers Hildegard Kneff, entitled “It should rain roses for me”, an optimistic song about youthful dreams and aspirations and lyrics such as “I want it all or nothing” and an old success of East German punk singer Nina Hagen, the “Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen” (“You forgot the color film”), which was a huge success in the former East Germany in 1974. The song is an expression of anger of the singer towards her partner, who took only black and white film during the holidays. “No one will believe how beautiful it was here”, is the most famous verse of the song, which was banned by the regime because it was taken as a critique of the gray and dark ΛΔΓ, where color film was still rare.

According to many analysts, this is one of the rare times that the lady Merkel, the first chancellor from the former East Germany, allows people to discern some nostalgia for the country they grew up in – or at least a lighter, humorous side of themselves. Asked to explain her choice, the chancellor said earlier today during a press conference that “my youth was in ΛΔΓ and the song was at the height of my youth “- in addition, it takes place in the area, which was later her constituency.

The paradox is that Angela Merkel and the Nina Hagen They had met 30 years ago on a TV show, with the singer erupting then: “I’m tired of your lies, your hypocrisy.” It seems, however, that the outgoing chancellor has probably forgiven her ever since. The same Nina Hagen, when the choice of her song became known, in a post she said she was surprised and explained that the chancellor may not know that the lyricist, Kurt Demer, was considered her “state poet” ΛΔΓ and was later charged with sexually abusing 200 children and committing suicide in prison during his trial.