More political prominence is hardly possible: the top of the state gathers to celebrate the Basic Law. The Federal President calls on the Democrats to stand together. There are also goosebumps moments.
On the 75th anniversary of the Basic Law, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier prepared the people of Germany for more difficult times and at the same time invoked their will to assert themselves. At a state ceremony in Berlin, he called for people to defend the achievements of freedom and democracy against their enemies.
“Our democracy is defensible. Anyone who fights our liberal democracy today must know that this time they are dealing with a fighting democracy and with fighting democrats,” said Steinmeier.
A country in a time of testing
The Federal President emphasised: “For me it is clear: we are living in a time of testing. Rough and even harder years are ahead of us. The answer to this cannot and must not be cowardice or self-doubt.” It would also be wrong to dream of a more comfortable past or to conjure up the downfall of the country every day. This would only paralyze us. “We must now assert ourselves – with realism, with ambition. That is the task of the time. Self-assertion is the task of our time!”
In this context, Steinmeier pointed to the threat posed by Russia. Nobody knows when Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin’s hunger for power will be satisfied. For him, it is imperative: “We must do more for our security. We must invest in our defense. We must strengthen our alliance. And we need the financial means to do so.” But a strong society is also needed. “A strong society that knows the value of freedom and is prepared to confront threats to freedom, that knows its cohesion.” Military security and social resilience belong together.
Climate change, social security and the economic crisis are also enormous tasks. In Steinmeier’s view, all of these challenges trigger conflicts. “We have to prepare ourselves for this: We will not have fewer arguments in the coming years, perhaps more. The fight for financial resources will become tougher, and with it, of course, the fight over what is important.”
Call for cooperation and private commitment
Steinmeier called on the democratic parties to work together when the common whole is affected or threatened. “The unity of the democrats – this is what is needed when democracy is under attack.” At the same time, Steinmeier spread confidence: “I am firmly convinced that we will survive this testing period.”
The Federal President made it clear that he now sees not only those in political responsibility as having a duty. “What we need now are citizens who don’t say, ‘Why do I care?’, but who say, ‘I care.'” There are many millions of them in our country.
The entire state leadership at the state ceremony
The heads of the five constitutional bodies took part in the state ceremony in the open air between the Reichstag and the Chancellery. In addition to the Federal President, these were the Presidents of the Bundestag, Bundesrat and Federal Constitutional Court – Bärbel Bas (SPD), Manuela Schwesig (SPD) and Stephan Harbarth – as well as Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). Among the approximately 1,100 guests were the former Federal Chancellors Gerhard Schröder (SPD) and Angela Merkel (CDU) as well as former Federal President Joachim Gauck. Around 1,000 police officers ensured security and traffic control.
Steinmeier was repeatedly interrupted by applause during his speech. Afterwards, the guests at the state ceremony gave him a standing ovation.
Goosebumps moment with Margot Friedländer
Steinmeier praised the Basic Law as a “great gift” for Germany after the Nazi tyranny. “I am convinced that this constitution is one of the best things that Germany has ever produced.” The Federal President called the central sentence in Article 1 – “Human dignity is inviolable” – a “fixed star.” The guests experienced a moment of goosebumps when the 102-year-old Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer, who narrowly escaped death in a concentration camp, quoted this sentence in a short recorded sequence.
Other celebrities cited other basic rights, for example the journalist Jessy Wellmer cited Article 5 (“Freedom of the press and freedom of reporting through radio and film are guaranteed”), the Ghanaian-born chef Nelson Müller cited Article 3 (“All people are equal before the law”) and the entrepreneur Michael Otto cited Article 14 (“Property entails obligations. Its use should also serve the common good.”)
Remembering 35 years of the Peaceful Revolution
In his speech, Steinmeier also recalled the Peaceful Revolution in the GDR 35 years ago, which ultimately led to the Basic Law, which until then only applied in West Germany, becoming the constitution for the whole of Germany. “The Basic Law and the Peaceful Revolution, they created the second German democracy, or I should say, they made us what we are today. We celebrate together because we belong together.”
Katharina Thalbach and Andreja Schneider gave a subtle hint that in 1989/90 many things did not go as the people in East Germany had imagined. They concluded a musical journey through time from 1949 to 1989 with Bertolt Brecht’s children’s anthem – which many East Germans would have liked to see as the new national anthem for all of Germany. In vain. And so the state ceremony ended with “Unity and Justice and Freedom”.