As expected, Frank-Walter Steinmeier received an overwhelming majority in the Federal Assembly, and the Federal President is now starting his second term in office. Of course, a comparison to its predecessors cannot really be drawn halfway. Germany has mostly been lucky with its federal presidents. Very important ones like the SPD’s Gustav Heinemann, the Christian Democrat Richard von Weizsäcker and the East German pastor Joachim Gauck faced much criticism during their tenure; What German democracy really had in them only became clear to many people afterwards.
Steinmeier has what it takes to join their ranks. Probably less than a reminder of the Berlin political establishment from which he comes. But, more importantly, he has found his great theme, and it is very close to what constitutes the merit of those named: the freedom and community of their defenders. Heinemann recalled the German democracy movements as the true predecessors of the republic, Weizsäcker called the self-deceptions in dealing with the Nazi dictatorship by their name, Gauck promoted the unity and freedom of the Germans as values that belong together. Steinmeier often brings these strands together: against right-wing populism, the irrational temptations of the present, and the autocracies, he sets a strong, defensive democracy that should be much more certain of itself than it often is.
His speeches at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial or on the Weimar Republic were highlights, providing orientation in the midst of all the confused and shrill debates that are forgotten after two days when the next outrage sweeps through Twitter. This is reflected in his high approval ratings. Steinmeier said on Sunday after his re-election that anyone who attacks democracy “will have me as an opponent.” Perhaps one day it will be said of his presidency that he was a voice of reason in a time of unreasonableness.