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Federal President Steinmeier suggested a Peaceful Revolution memorial at the German Unity Day ceremony. Germany is not as far as it should be, but “much further than we think”.
In his speech on the Day of German Unity, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke in favor of a monument to the Peaceful Revolution in the GDR. If the Peaceful Revolution can be a stimulus today, “then we will create a place that reminds us of this courage,” Steinmeier said at celebrations of central unity in Brandenburg’s capital, Potsdam.
There are already several places to remember, but Germany also does not need a “prominent place” that is more than a memorial that remembers the freedom and democracy impulses of peaceful revolutionaries, asked the federal president. A place that reminds us that “the East Germans have taken charge of their destiny and liberated themselves.” The revolutionaries would have overthrown a dictatorship. “This is a great moment that will always have a place in our German democratic history.”
“Traumatic consequences”
Steinmeier also recalled in his speech that the unrest had affected people in the east of the country much harder than in the west. There are still too many stories of destroyed biographies, of devalued titles, of places where a whole generation is missing because the kids there had no future and they were gone.
How long-lasting downsides can be has been underestimated. This must be openly discussed. Thirty years after reunification, “we are nowhere near where we should be. But at the same time, we are much further away than we think.”
“It is important that the trust files are finally open,” Steinmeier said. Decisions at that time will be reevaluated and contested 30 years later. “We don’t have to argue about the traumatic consequences of liquidating entire companies.”
When it comes to undesirable developments, “it’s not about courtesy and distance, it’s about our democracy,” he said. Because when people feel “permanently backward,” “then cohesion crumbles, then distrust in politics grows, then the breeding ground for populism and extremist parties grows,” Steinmeier warned.
“We are all people”
“We are the people” today means “We are all the people”: “Bavarians, coastal dwellers, East Germans have their own confidence in themselves. Rural residents think differently from city dwellers. Christians. , Muslims, Jews and atheists are part of our country. ” Ossis and Wessis still exist, but this distinction is no longer decisive. Thanks to the joint growth of the East and the West, through immigration and integration, Germany has become more diverse and different in the last 30 years.
The colors of Germany’s democratic history are black, red and gold, “the colors of unity and justice and freedom. (…) We will not allow them to be repressed, abused or appropriated,” said the head of state with an eye on protesters waving the 1871 black, white and red German Reich flag or the Reich War Flag in front of the Bundestag.
Positive balance
Overall, Steinmeier pulled a positive balance from German unity. “Today we live in the best Germany that has ever existed,” he said. Germans are “lucky children in the center of Europe” who need not be discouraged. Germany has become “a reunified, free and democratic country in the center of Europe,” the president said. “What luck! What an achievement! We are proud of that on this day.”
Germany is celebrating the 30th anniversary of German unity under the terms of the crown. At the beginning of the central celebrations in Potsdam, together with Steinmeier, Chancellor Angela Merkel and the President of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble, they participated in an ecumenical service at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul. Due to the pandemic, only 130 guests were allowed to attend, including delegations of citizens of the federal states.
The ceremony will take place at the Metropolishalle in Babelsberg. The celebrations under the motto “We together” will be organized by Brandenburg Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke as Chairman-in-Office of the Federal Council.
