The end of Angela Merkel’s reign as Chancellor of Germany marked the popularity of Beethoven, romantic chanson, and East German punk, all of which were played by the Bundeswehr band in a clockwork and precise manner.
Rear 16 years After taking office, Angela Merkel will be handed over to Olaf Scholz (Olaf Scholz) next week and will be awarded a military tattoo to show respect, which is the highest tribute to civilians. Wearing a simple black coat and black gloves, the most powerful politician in Europe looked gloomy and showed little emotion. She watched soldiers holding torches marching through the courtyard of the Berlin Ministry of Defense in costumes.
A few hours before the ceremony, Merkel announced Stricter measures to curb the surge in coronavirus cases in Germany, Including what her successor called “unvaccinated blockade.”
At the event, she said that her four tenures were “eventful and often very challenging.
“They challenged me politically and humanitarianly, and at the same time, they are also very fulfilling.”
The event started with Beethoven’s military march and ended with Ich bete an die Macht Liebe (I pray for the power of love), A traditional song that has been part of the ceremony since the Napoleonic Wars. In this song, the soldiers took off their gray helmets, and Merkel smiled at the lead officer as the last bar disappeared.
The custom of Großer Zapfenstreich or Grand tattoo The ceremony dates back to the 16th century, but the highest honor of the German army was awarded to the Chancellor only after Helmut Kohl left in 1998. His farewell was in his hometown of Speyer in Rhineland-Palatinate. Held in front of the church.
Although Schroeder’s Großer Zapfenstreich had 600 guests attending, it was reported that Merkel only invited about 200 people, including 52 ministers who served during her tenure. She sits next to the current German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who was a student of Merkel but never won the support of their CDU. Another protégé, the current president of the European Commission, the former family and defense minister under Merkel’s leadership, Ursula von der Lein, is not expected to attend.
The military band played three songs selected by Merkel: Christian hymns Great god, we praise you (Holy God, we praise your name), an ode to Hildegard Naif Should rain red roses for me (It should rain red roses for me), Nina Hagen’s You forgot the color film (You forgot the color film)-the last East German pop song of the 1970s, a tribute to Merkel’s growth experience in East Germany in a way she rarely did during her tenure.
The song was understood as a criticism of the monotonous reality of East German communism, an angry lament, admonishing Hagen’s boyfriend Michael that they only made a black and white film during their vacation on Hiddensee Island. As a result, she cried, “No one will believe how beautiful this place is.”
Merkel described the song as “a highlight of my youth” and pointed out that the background of the song is her Baltic constituency, “so everything is suitable.”
After the event, Germany’s current Minister of Economy and close ally Peter Altmaier said on Twitter that this is “the great Zapfenstreich of a great prime minister.” Alluding to Hagen’s songs, he said: “Angela Merkel explained to us in black and white when he was serious and important” and added in English, “Thank you a lot. We will miss you very much.”
Merkel is expected to hand over the post of prime minister Olaf Schultz Next week, but first, the new government’s joint agreement needs to be approved by the relevant three parties.
Schultz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) will hold a party congress on Saturday, and its representatives are expected to approve the agreement for the center-left to return to the Chancellery for the first time since 2005. Unlike in 2013 and 2018, the Social Democratic Party will not vote for all members on future power-sharing agreements.
The Liberal Democratic Party (FDP) will vote at the Digital Congress the next day, and members of the Green Party must approve or reject the agreement before December 6. Although many members of the Ecological Party have criticized the environmental aspects of the transaction, the possibility of rejection is very small.
Once the document has been approved by all three parties, Schultz could be sworn in as the next leader of Germany as early as Monday, December 6, and at the end of Wednesday at the latest. On Thursday, the German Chancellor will have to represent the country at a “democracy summit” hosted by US President Joe Biden.
Merkel is most likely to hand over the Chancellery on the same day that Schultz was sworn in.
