history quiz
“He used to be chancellor?”: Green MP Emilia Fester has to pass when asked about Bismarck
Emilia Fester entered the Bundestag at the age of 23
© Future Image / Imago Images
Green MP Emilia Fester showed insecurities in a history quiz – above all, she did not know the answer to a question about Bismarck. However, she was not the only politician with gaps in knowledge.
Emilia Fester was the youngest member of parliament when she entered the German Bundestag in 2021. The history lesson for the 25-year-old was not that long ago, but she showed some knowledge gaps in a history quiz. For ZDF, Mirko Drotschmann, known as “Mr. Wissens2Go” from YouTube and from the TV show “Terra X”, interviewed MPs on historical topics – including Fester.
Especially when it came to the question of who was appointed the first German Chancellor in 1871, the Greens deputy began to falter. “I don’t know, I don’t know any names,” she admits. Drotschmann gives her some hints: A herring was named after the man, his name starts with B. Then it occurs to the politician: Otto von Bismarck is the right answer.
Emilia Fester stumbles on a history quiz
Fester seems quite surprised: “He was chancellor? Funny, okay.” In fact, in 1871, after the founding of the German Empire, Bismarck was appointed Chancellor by Kaiser Wilhelm I. He held this position until 1890 and during this time had a decisive influence on the politics of the empire – in some cases he was even credited with more power than the emperor.
However, the Green politician not only had problems with the question of Bismarck: she did not know right away who Georg Elser was, who failed with an attempt to assassinate Hitler – and she dates the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany to “1945 or a year later”. . However, the Federal Republic of Germany was only founded in 1949 with the passing of the Basic Law.
Other MPs had problems too
Fester’s knowledge gaps caused ridicule and malice on social media and among politicians from other parties. The CDU member of the Bundestag Christoph Ploß wrote on Twitter: “Emilia Fester reveals huge knowledge gaps, but wants to explain the world to everyone else regularly.” CSU politician Florian Hahn said: “As a member of the German Bundestag, not even having the most rudimentary knowledge of German history is just embarrassing.”
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It wasn’t just Fester who didn’t always have the right answers in the quiz right away. The CDU deputy Philipp Amthor dated the Reich fire to January 30, 1933, the day Hitler seized power. And left-wing politician Dietmar Bartsch was also a year off when the Federal Republic was founded.
Sources: “Mr. Knowledge2Go” on Youtube / Christoph Ploss on Twitter / Florian Hahn on Twitter