On Thursday, the Bundeswehr, the German federal armed forces, held the highest military ceremony for the civilian Grosser Zapfenstreich (or Grand Tattoo) for Angela Merkel.
The Grand Tattoo became unofficial a farewell ceremony for Defense Ministers, Presidents and Chancellors.
In a short but serious speech Thursday night, Merkel thanked the Germans and encouraged them to look optimistically to the future of their country.
& # 8212; Sixteen years as Chancellor of Germany were full of events, often very difficult & # 8212; both politically and humanly, she said.
According to her, numerous crises have demonstrated the importance of international cooperation in solving the problems facing the world.
Merkel added that especially the last two years of the pandemic have shown how important it really is to trust political leaders, science and public discourse.
& # 8212; I would like to encourage you in the future to look at the world from the point of view of other people, & # 8212; she said.
For the ceremony, Angela Merkel chose the Bendler Block & # 8212; this is a complex that belongs to the Ministry of Defense. Built as the office of the Imperial German Navy in 1914, it was expanded by the Nazis and became the headquarters of a group of German officers who tried to remove Adolf Hitler from power on July 20, 1944. Since 1993, the complex has served as a secondary seat of the German Federal Ministry of Defense.
Merkel & # 8212; the third chancellor of Germany to be honored with such a grand military ceremony. Her predecessors & # 8212; Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of Christian Democrats from 1982 to 1998, and Chancellor of Social Democrats from 1998 to 2005 Gerhard Schroeder.
At the request of Angela Merkel, they sang the Christian anthem of the 18th century Großer Gott, wir loben Dich ( Great God, we praise you), as well as the Bundeswehr Orchestra performed songs of legendary German performers from West and East Germany & # 8212; the composition Für mich soll & # 8217; s rote Rosen (It will rain red roses for me) by the actress and singer Hildegard Knef and the 1970s hit Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen (You forgot the color film) by the cult singer from the GDR Nina Hagen ).
In November, it was reported that the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Olaf Scholz, would replace Angela Merkel as Federal Chancellor of Germany. The three parties that entered the Bundestag agreed to create a ruling coalition.
