Carnival in the hands of women: In Aachen, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock received the order against animal seriousness. Her predecessor, actress Iris Berben, gave the eulogy.
Fanfare, dance and alaaf: Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is the new knight of the Aachen Order against animal seriousness. At a festive carnival session in Aachen on Saturday, the Greens politician, who was praised as a “modern knight in the best sense”, accepted the award from the Aachen Carnival Association (AKV).
With the jester’s cap on her head, she entertained the festival audience with a sweeping speech and clear words. The title of the order fits the world situation, said Baerbock: “Yes, it’s really serious”. And not losing confidence and humor is anything but easy. Again and again serious tones rang through from other speakers as well.
Tips against the Aachen carnivalists
“I thought long and hard about my disguise,” said Baerbock. The disguise as a leopard was out of the question – she was worried that the Chancellery would not issue a travel permit, said the Foreign Minister with a wink. She was wearing a black pantsuit and the dunce cap.
In the fool’s cage, in which new medal bearers traditionally hold their speech, the 42-year-old also distributed tips in the direction of the Aachen carnival participants. The order has been awarded since 1950, but it took 40 years for a woman to be honored for the first time. And a total of 73 years until it became a Green politician. Baerbock is only the eighth woman to receive the Order of Humor and Humanity in office.
The ceremony has always been quite a political affair, in the audience and on stage. In addition to Baerbock, SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil made it big. He flirted with the fact that, being from Lower Saxony, he was a newcomer to the Bütt. As a North German, he wasn’t a particularly funny person, he said. And: “I’m chairman of the SPD. You really don’t care much about having fun.” He received a lot of applause for his punchlines from the political life.
Lars Klingbeil plays the ukelele
Klingbeil confessed that one of the few moments when other people found him really funny was during the last federal election campaign when he said on talk shows: “Olaf will be chancellor.” He also had the recipe for getting out of his party’s low polls and into the chancellor’s office: “We just didn’t argue.”
Then the SPD chairman played a few short pieces on a ukulele at the request of moderator Sandra Maischberger. For Baerbock he played “something nice”. She is a great colleague, he said.
Among the guests were Armin Laschet, the former CDU Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, the CDU chairman Friedrich Merz, the Green Ministers from the NRW cabinet, Mona Neubaur and Oliver Krischer, and NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU). Wüst also congratulated Baerbock on Twitter with a triple Aachen greeting: “Oche Alaaf!”.
The program included music, dance, carnival princes and comedy, including with Guido Cantz. The cabaret artist Wilfried Schmickler read the riot act as Aachen’s patron saint, Charlemagne. As if he were going with the Rose Monday procession, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister of the Interior Herbert Reul (CDU) came onto the stage fully dressed in a red and green sparks costume and beat the drum.
Starck-Zimmermann as a vampire
The FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, who is known for her strong sayings, appeared in a kind of vampire costume with wildly sticking out gray hair. In the carnival she stuck to the pithy line: “From head to toe very formidable, without a doubt ministrabel, in every talk show a win because I’m the horniest,” said the member of the Bundestag from Düsseldorf.
Carnival in female hands: For the first time, two women in a row received the Aachen award. The Knight of the Order of 2022 Iris Berben paid tribute to Baerbock in warm tones: One could not wish for a better successor. “Intelligent, empathetic, upright and courageous, humorous and attractive without making a fuss about it,” said Berben.
Baerbock also mixed thoughtful tones into her speech. She had the room under control. She is thankful to live in a country where politicians can show that the suffering we see does not leave us indifferent. The carnival stands for this openness. “That we here in Germany can laugh at each other, but above all with each other. That’s what counts!” The audience celebrated Baerbock with standing ovations. It was well after midnight by then, and the celebration was far from over.