It is probably Angela Merkel’s last major appearance as Chancellor. 16 years in office are over, the end of an era. With a big tattoo she was adopted by the Bundeswehr. At the beginning of the ceremony, Angela Merkel spoke, which is not common. Earlier chancellors had renounced it. In the middle of the Paradeplatz in the Bendlerblock, a small speaker’s platform covered with red carpet had been set up. And then in a few minutes she was formulating some kind of legacy.
She felt gratitude and humility, she said at the beginning of her short speech, which lasted only a few minutes. “Humility before the office, gratitude for the trust”. And: “Trust is the most important capital in politics.”
A few hours ago, she sat down with the prime minister to look for answers to the challenges of the corona crisis, she said. And now she stands here. “Little says as much as this sequence, in what unbelievable time we live.” Therefore it is now time to think of those who are at the same time with all their strength against the fourth wave of the pandemic. “All of you owe my and all of us thanks.”
16 eventful years as Federal Chancellor were now behind her. “You challenged me politically and personally.” The past two years in particular have shown, as if under a magnifying glass, how important trust is – and how fragile “. And then comes the part that can be read as Legacy, her appeal to her successors and society as a whole. Democracy lives from the balance of interests, “from respect for one another, from solidarity”. Trust also includes trust in facts. Wherever scientific knowledge is denied, conspiracy theories and agitation spread, contradictions must be heard, she said. “Our democracy also lives from the fact that wherever hatred and violence are seen as a legitimate means of pursuing our own interests, our tolerance as democrats has to find its limit.”
The financial crisis in 2008 and the large number of refugees in 2015 showed how important international cooperation is. And this cooperation includes – if you will, the second part of their legacy – “always seeing the world through the eyes of the other, so also perceiving the sometimes uncomfortable and contradicting perspectives of the other person” and working to balance interests . At the same time, Merkel was “convinced that we can continue to shape the future well if we don’t get down to work with displeasure, resentment, pessimism, but (…) with happiness in our hearts.” even kept it always. She also wishes that to her successor in office Olaf Scholz.
The program was reduced in size due to the corona. The reception before the tattoo was waived. The Chancellor showed a sense of humor in her choice of music. The staff music corps voiced “For me it’s supposed to rain red roses” by Hildegard Knef and the GDR hit “You forgot the color film” by Nina Hagen. An east-west connection, a tribute to your constituency in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. As the third song Merkel chose the hymn “Great God, we praise you.”
Merkel watched the ceremony while sitting on a small pedestal. Left and right of it were – of course – long-stemmed roses draped in a bouquet. And at the very end – the soldiers had already withdrawn, the limousines pulled up in front of the small podium, Merkel had already received the applause from the grandstands with the guests of honor – she pulled a long-stemmed rose out of the pot for herself on the way to the car . Hesitated briefly and took it again. She handed the second rose to Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who had sat next to her during the celebration. At one time she was thought to be Merkel’s successor. They will both be leaving their offices next week.