Steinmeier urges self-criticism and warns against political demagoguery on the Day of German Unity

When Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke at the German Unity Day celebration on Saturday afternoon, he sounded self-critical. “We should ask ourselves without mercy what the federal and state governments have failed to do over the last three and a half decades that caused so many people to turn away and extremists to find so much resonance.” In what is likely to be his last major speech, at least the last on October 3rd as president, someone is wrestling with himself, trying to find an answer for more than three quarters of an hour to the question of why democracy, as he and at least the West Germans of his generation took it for granted for a long time, has come under so much pressure.

Especially on Unity Day, Steinmeier wants to avoid one-sided blame. The development is not “limited to one direction,” says the Federal President. It affects “all of us”. And further: “If so many voters in East German countries have gone to political extremists, we should not forget about the high percentages: According to surveys, extremists get the absolute most votes in West German countries.” Absolutely – that may be true. But relatively speaking, voters' approval of the AfD is higher in the East than in the West. At least still. Steinmeier's analysis also contains this part of the truth.

See F.A.Z. articles more often in your search results

F.A.Z. prefer on Google

Steinmeier takes time to describe the unfinished unity. People didn't want to just be passive recipients of support. “You have something to give, something to achieve and want to have a voice in all areas, whether business, politics, science, media, and have a say, on an equal footing, in influential positions.” That's why the low representation of "East German biographies" in such positions is "no glory," says the president. "Even in the fourth decade of unity, this deficiency remains serious. It is not too late to change this. Let's do it."

The front row is full of West Germans

Steinmeier, a West German lawyer, speaks after the host, Bremen's mayor Andreas Bovenschulte, a Social Democrat born in 1965 and, like the Federal President, a lawyer from the West. Both look into crowded rows, the first of which is also dominated by West German men. From the left, where Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) sits, to the right, where Health Minister Carsten Linnemann (CDU) sits. In between, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) with his wife, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD), Constitutional Court President Stephan Harbarth, former Federal President Christian Wulff.

Even former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) can listen from the front row. In the middle is Bundestag President Julia Klöckner (CDU). All white. After all, Brandenburg's Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) is at the forefront as a prominent East German. But overall, when you look at the front row of German politics, it becomes clear what Steinmeier meant by the “low representation of East German biographies”. The two East Germans who have made it the furthest in politics are not visible. Former Federal President Joachim Gauck and former Chancellor. D. Angela Merkel (CDU).

It was five years ago that Merkel, an East German on her way out of politics, gave the most personal speech of her life on October 3rd. She complained on behalf of the people from the former GDR that, more than three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, they still had to “re-prove” their “belonging” to the unified Germany. Back then too, the front row was full of West Germans, one of them was Steinmeier.

The “unbearable political demagoguery”

He wrestles on Saturday and wrestles. You take away his seriousness. "We have actually achieved a great deal in many areas. In truth, we have done more than other transition countries in Europe." The state as a whole has mobilized more resources than ever before in German history to equalize living conditions. And despite all the “haggling and grumbling” it comes from the deeper conviction “that we want unity, that we are a union, a unified Federal Republic in which everyone stands up for one another.”

And he warns, he warns. Voters who went to the extremes loudly insisted on their own rights while being prepared to compromise the rights of others. "The unbearable political demagoguery of extremist forces, who enjoy destruction and mock and threaten other people, not only endangers freedom and democracy today. It also endangers our internal unity. And we cannot want that." Tino Chrupalla, one of the two leaders of the AfD, sits in the third row. Steinmeier doesn't have to mention that he and his party are at least included. Chrupalla can listen to the Federal President in peace and quiet. A survey at the weekend will see his party at 30 percent, the Union at under 20.

Phone calls with Dobrindt and Klingbeil about the coalition

Steinmeier shows his concern for democracy not only in Sunday or Saturday speeches. Shortly before October 3rd, he spoke to numerous members of the federal government about the state of the coalition. Among them were SPD leader Klingbeil and Interior Minister Dobrindt (CSU).

On Saturday, Steinmeier wants to encourage his audience despite any doubts. He says that it has not yet been decided “whether Berlin will become more similar to the Weimar Republic”. But then: “We have it in our hands.” One should not allow oneself to be driven “into political hysteria, into the excessive insulting of mayors and representatives, into the unrestrained desire for destruction!” Nor in anti-Jewish sentiments. "Our Germany is a good country. Let's create an even better one!" were the president's last words on the anniversary day.