Tattoo for Merkel: departure in modesty

Angela Merkel is not very pathos. She remains true to herself even with the Great Zapfenstreich, which was organized in her honor. Nevertheless, it bore Merkel’s handwriting unmistakably.

It is a small, marginal gesture that, after long moments of solemn pathos, staged by the Bundeswehr guard battalion, says a lot about Angela Merkel’s farewell mode. It happens a few seconds after Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer presented her with a long-stemmed red rose from the sparse ceremony decoration, just before the Chancellor climbs into the state limousine and disappears towards the Chancellery. Merkel took it herself and presented Kramp-Karrenbauer with a rose.

There is something conciliatory between the two CDU politicians who have not had it easy with each other in recent years. But what both have in common is that their party has not made it easy for either of them in the role of party chairman. This relationship is said to have cooled when Merkel brought forward the point in time for her withdrawal from party leadership and remained in the Chancellery.

Difficult times began for Kramp-Karrenbauer, who went from the General Secretary to the office of chairman faster than expected – they ended hapless for her. While Merkel felt more and more committed to her role as Chancellor in a presidential manner, acted away from the climes of the CDU headquarters. But now, at this moment of the self-determined departure of the Chancellor, who no longer wanted to run for re-election, there is something deeply conciliatory about this gesture towards the Defense Minister.

Thanks to the “dear Annegret”

Previously, Merkel had already gone to the square with Kramp-Karrenbauer at her side, laughing and relaxed, later she had thanked “Dear Annegret” in her short speech. Of course there is something historical about this evening anyway that two women in high offices commit this tattoo together, which in the history of the Federal Republic has so far only been given to male federal presidents, chancellors, defense ministers and generals – with one exception, the CDU defense minister Ursula von der Leyen, she is also a political companion of Merkel’s.

There were no red roses on the side of the tattoo for ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, but there were tears. With Merkel, dressed in a black coat with a stand-up collar, there are no tears of emotion, but among other things she asked for the song “For you it should rain red roses” from Hildegard Knef. Plus a GDR youth anthem by punk star Nina Hagen. One could say female subversiveness, which at the same time counteracts the very traditional ritual with a wink.

Sometimes an almost uncomfortable expression

Merkel’s facial expression usually remains indifferent, sometimes almost uncomfortable. Perhaps because she knows that the camera rests on her the whole time she listens to the marching music – and that probably millions of people are watching her right now and trying to read her facial expressions. She prefers to put on the most sober expression she has.

But maybe also because this state act just doesn’t quite fit her, with its ritualized, uniformed masculinity, the archaic image of the many torches that stand out from the dark Berlin night sky and with this soldiers’ farewell custom in a completely different time from the Prussian Refer to Berlin.

But it seems that none of the guests present, including the Federal President, all Prime Ministers and all members of their four government cabinets, could not avoid the solemnity of this moment – not even Merkel entirely. Especially not when fireworks are still rising in the sky and church bells are ringing, when the ecumenical chorale “Great God, we praise you”, composed by her in 1771, sounds, there is at least a hint of modest emotion in her. Not more.

A departure in “humility and gratitude”

Merkel remains matter-of-factly with her short speech, the only one at this ceremony in her honor – more matter-of-fact than she was recently seen at the lectern in the corona crisis. Pathos in office is not their thing. So she uses this moment of great attention for her parting words to leave a few thoughts behind the “dear fellow citizens”. For example, the encouragement to continue to see the world through the eyes of the other person, the other person.

But also to thank you in detail in all directions and finally to wish her designated successor Olaf Scholz “all the best, good luck and the best of luck”. In her address “in humility and gratitude”, she briefly touches on the 16 years of her chancellorship, the sequence of events clearly showing “what a time we live in”.

“Go to work with a happy heart”

The corona crisis that shaped her later years in office should not go unmentioned. You have shown how important trust in politics is, “but also how fragile”. She speaks for about six minutes – little time for someone who is used to long government statements – and has also increasingly addressed her own biography and GDR past in speeches. And yet she manages to get everything under, including her guiding motive for freedom, when she finally calls on “to go to work with a happy heart”.

She always kept it that way, in her life in the GDR, “and especially in my life in freedom”. She is the first woman, the first East German in this office – she hardly shows her pride. Before Merkel leaves for the limousine and for almost the last time after the 45-minute big tattoo on Thursday evening, she waves to her more than four dozen cabinet members in a relaxed and happy manner. A stateswoman who is at peace with herself is clearly leaving.