On a summer afternoon, the Reichstag was filled with the soft light of Berlin. Tourists ascended the spiral ramp as the great glass dome filtered the light down into the main hall of parliament. Although half of the members’ seats were empty, Chancellor Angela Merkel of the Federal Republic of Germany was present, reading a speech from a binder. Dressed in a fuchsia jacket, black slacks, and a helmet of no-color hair, Merkel was determined to remain professional and uninteresting.German Chancellor Angela Merkel has outlined her government’s policy on the Ukraine crisis, emphasizing the importance of targeted support for Ukraine and diplomatic dialogue with Russia. Speaking in a clear and measured tone, Merkel stated that the federal government had been pursuing a threefold policy since the beginning of the crisis. In addition to providing targeted support for Ukraine, she said, the government had been working tirelessly to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis in dialogue with Russia. Merkel also noted that she had learned to overcome her discomfort with public speaking, using her hands to form a diamond shape over her stomach.
The Reichstag was constructed in the 1880s under Kaiser Wilhelm I and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, when a newly unified Germany was emerging as a major power in Europe. On the eve of the First World War, a social-democratic politician interrupted his lunch in the building and declared the end of imperial Germany: “Long live the German republic!” The Reichstag was the seat of parliament during the Weimar era and the early years of Nazi rule, until a suspicious fire broke out in the session chamber on February 27, 1933. Chancellor Adolf Hitler and his aide Joseph Goebbels rushed to the scene and blamed the fire on the Communists, using the crisis to suspend civil liberties and consolidate power in the Nazi Party. Parliament voted to render itself meaningless, and the building was never repaired. At the end of the Second World War, the Reichstag was seen as a symbol of the Third Reich and became a major target in the Battle for Berlin. A photograph of a Red Army soldier raising a Soviet flag on the roof became an iconic image of German defeat.
During the Cold War, the Reichstag in central Berlin was a bullet-pocked relic, its cupola wrecked and its walls scarred. Located just inside the British sector, the building was left to the elements until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. On October 3, 1990, President Richard von Weizsäcker addressed a crowd of a million people from the steps of the Reichstag, announcing the reunification of Germany in freedom and peace, with Berlin as its capital. This marked the beginning of a new era for the nation.
For the next decade, the Reichstag was reconstructed with a conscious effort to create a symbol of reunified Germany. The dome, designed by Norman Foster, was intended to suggest transparency and openness. The famous words on the colonnaded entrance, “DEM DEUTSCHEN VOLKE” (“To the German People”) were preserved out of a sense of fidelity to history, while a German-American artist was commissioned to create a courtyard garden in which the more modest phrase “DER BEVÖLKERUNG”—“To the Populace”—was laid out in white letters amid unruly plantings. During the reconstruction, workers uncovered graffiti, in Cyrillic script, scrawled by Red Army soldiers on second-floor walls. After debate, some of these were kept on display as historical reminders, including soldiers’ names, “Moscow to Berlin 9/5/45,” and “I fuck Hitler in the ass.” When the Bundestag began convening in the Reichstag, it was a powerful symbol of Germany’s reunification.
No other nation commemorates its conquerors on the walls of its most prominent government building. Germany’s transgressions were unparalleled, and its approach to reckoning with the history embedded in the Reichstag is equally unique. By incorporating the slogans of victorious Russian soldiers into its parliament building, Germany demonstrates that it has taken crucial lessons from its past (ones that the Russians themselves failed to recognize). By facing the twentieth century head-on, Germans are embracing a narrative of liberation from the worst of their history. In Berlin, reminders of this are everywhere. Take a ride on the U-Bahn at Stadtmitte, between the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and the Topography of Terror Gestapo museum, and look up at the train’s video news ticker: “80 years ago today PEN Club-Berlin forced into exile.” Like a devoted psychoanalyst, Germany has brought its past to the forefront, discussed it endlessly, and accepted it. This process of many years has enabled the nation to move forward and lead a successful new life.Chancellor Angela Merkel addressed the German Parliament on the recent expulsion of Russia from the Group of Seven. She spoke of the need to protect Ukraine and to combat any attempts to impose outdated spheres of influence from the 19th and 20th centuries. Her speech was delivered in a monotone, yet her rhetoric reached a crescendo as she gestured with her fingers extended. To the untrained ear, her words may have sounded like a recital of regulatory guidelines for the national rail system.
The Chancellor received a sustained round of applause as she took her seat behind the lectern, flanked by her cabinet ministers. After suffering a cross-country-skiing accident last winter, Chancellor Merkel has lost weight, having swapped sausage sandwiches for chopped carrots and shedding twenty pounds. Her face, with its sunken eyes and longer jowls, reveals her fatigue after having held the office of Chancellor since 2005, having been re-elected for a third term last September with no challenger in sight.Sahra Wagenknecht, a Die Linke politician, took to the Bundestag lectern on this day to challenge the economic and foreign policies of the ruling coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats. With 80% of the seats in parliament, the opposition is limited, leaving Wagenknecht to represent the leftist party of mostly former East German politicians, who hold just 10% of the seats. Wearing a brilliant-red suit, Wagenknecht expressed her concern that the policies of the coalition are bringing Fascism back to Europe. Citing the French historian Emmanuel Todd, she warned that “unknowingly, the Germans are on their way to again take their role as bringers of calamity for the other European peoples, and later for themselves.” She urged the coalition to reconsider their approach and to stop “abusing a highly dangerous, half-hegemonic position that Germany slid into, in the ruthless old German style.”
Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared unperturbed as she conversed with her economics minister, Sigmar Gabriel, and foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, both of the Social Democratic Party, while Die Linke MP Sahra Wagenknecht accused the government of supporting Fascists in Kiev. Merkel briefly rose from her seat to speak with her ministers in the back row, her orange-red leather handbag in stark contrast to her jacket. When she glanced up at Wagenknecht, her expression was one of boredom and contempt.The speaker concluded her address to the Bundestag, receiving only applause from the members of Die Linke, isolated in the far-left section of the chamber. In response, Social Democratic and Green parliamentarians came forward to defend Chancellor Merkel. Katrin Göring-Eckardt, a Green leader, asked, “How can you connect us Germans to Fascists?” to applause. However, a woman from Die Linke then threw a quote of Bertolt Brecht at Göring-Eckardt: “Who does not know the truth is simply a fool, yet who knows the truth and calls it a lie is a criminal.” Göring-Eckardt was outraged and the vice-president of the Bundestag ordered the woman from Die Linke to observe protocol. Throughout the exchange, Merkel kept her composure and ignored the drama, at one point turning her back and at another leaving the hall. Despite the high drama in the normally drowsy Bundestag, Merkel’s body language spoke volumes, demonstrating her control over the parliament.Fritz Stern, a renowned historian, has referred to the era of reunification as “Germany’s second chance”, a fresh opportunity to become Europe’s preeminent power after the catastrophic period of aggression that began a century ago. Angela Merkel appears to be the perfect choice to take advantage of this chance. In a nation where passionate rhetoric and macho posturing previously led to disaster, Merkel’s analytical detachment and lack of ego are seen as political assets. Her air of ordinariness has made a resurgent Germany seem less intimidating to the rest of Europe.
Katrin Göring-Eckardt, a German politician, stated that Merkel’s character “suggests she’s one of us”. The Chancellor was initially not pleased when her rivals in the Christian Democratic Union began to refer to her as “Mutti”, or “Mommy”, but after it gained popularity with the public, Merkel embraced the nickname.Germany stands out as an economic powerhouse in a Europe that is otherwise stagnating. The euro zone crisis has enabled Germany, the largest creditor nation in Europe, to become a regional superpower. Merkel has been dubbed “the Chancellor of Europe” for her leadership during this time. Germany has maintained its middle class and a high level of social solidarity, even as America slides into increasing inequality. While other countries around the world are seeing protests, Germany is enjoying outdoor concerts and World Cup celebrations. Germany’s history of militarism has been replaced with a pacifist attitude, and the country has largely stayed out of recent wars that have proved costly and inconclusive for other Western countries. In the recent E.U. elections, parties on the far left and right saw increased popularity throughout the Continent, but Germany was the exception.
Centrist parties, including Merkel’s, won the election despite her not being on the ballot. In contrast to the polarized politics of America, Germany’s consensus is so strong that new laws are passed with little meaningful debate.German Chancellor Angela Merkel has defied the odds to become one of the most powerful leaders in the world. Mariam Lau, a political correspondent for the weekly newspaper Die Zeit, attributes Merkel’s success to “self-criticism and self-loathing” which is “part of the success story—getting strong by hating yourself.” Merkel, a woman, scientist, and Ossi (a product of East Germany), is an anomaly in German politics. Despite her outsider status, her extraordinary rise has been propelled by her own qualities. Some observers, however, have been reluctant to recognize her success, suggesting that a woman from East Germany should not be in such a position. Nevertheless, Merkel has consistently proven her worth, making older and more powerful politicians pay the price for underestimating her.
