"Berlin Is Not Weimar – But It Could Become It": German President Warns Democracy Is Under Attack
Frank-Walter Steinmeier used the 36th anniversary of German reunification to warn against extremist forces, foreign disinformation, and the erosion of democratic trust.
Germany's president has warned that the country's democracy is being challenged in ways he did not expect to see in his lifetime. Speaking at the official celebrations for German Unity Day in Bremen on Saturday, Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for a determined defence of democratic institutions against extremist forces at home and manipulative influences abroad.
"The unbearable political demagogy of extremist forces, who live out a lust for destruction and mock and threaten other people, today endangers not only freedom and democracy. It endangers our inner unity," Steinmeier said. Lies and manipulation on social media, he added, were amplifying this development.
The president acknowledged that large parts of society distrust the political order of the Federal Republic. "Precisely for that reason, we cannot sidestep the fact that a quarter and more express with their voting choice that they are turning away from important fundamental decisions of the republic," he said. Every vote counted and had to be taken seriously.
Steinmeier identified economic globalisation, concerns about migration, and competition for jobs and housing as causes of public uncertainty. A turnaround would only be achieved when people had less reason to fear for their future and that of their children, when life remained affordable, and when social advancement was possible.
He also warned against the radicalisation of political debate. The discrediting of democratic procedures and the defamation of political compromise, he said, must serve as a warning. He drew a comparison to the Weimar Republic, the fragile democracy that collapsed into Nazi dictatorship in 1933. "Bonn was not Weimar and Berlin is not Weimar," Steinmeier said. But the question of "whether Berliners will become more similar to the Weimar Republic" had not yet been decided. "But we have it in our hands."
Steinmeier said he had believed Germany had learned the lessons of its history. Now, he said, he was witnessing how supporters of right-wing extremism wanted to erase the memory of Holocaust victims. "I considered our democracy secure and must learn that it is being contested anew." The task, he said, was the "self-assertion of democracy."
The president also warned of influences from the United States and Russia. Right-wing populists in the US, he said, were spreading ideas of political "disruption," while disinformation and manipulation were being used as tools. A bridge between different political positions was possible, he said. But where it came to "contempt for the law," deliberate lies, or incitement to violence, there were limits to understanding.
Steinmeier directed his appeal to the German government as well. Germany needed "deliberate, steady, professional, and resilient government policy," he said, while advocating for political compromise. Entrenched problems could be solved if politics tackled them step by step.
He also addressed Ukraine. Germany must continue to support the country, he said, but at the same time use its political role to help shape the conditions for peace and security in Europe. He welcomed the expansion of the Bundeswehr, but said Germany needed a "grown-up attitude to the relationship between military strength and diplomatic wisdom."
The celebrations in Bremen carried the motto "Many strengths – one country." Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, Bundestag President Julia Klöckner, and Constitutional Court President Stephan Harbarth were among those attending. On the eve of the celebrations, several people took part in a demonstration organised by the "Basisgruppe Antifaschismus Bremen" against German Unity Day.
For now, Germany marks 36 years since reunification with its president warning that the unity achieved in 1990 is not guaranteed to hold. The lessons of the past, Steinmeier said, have not been fully learned. And the future of German democracy, he insisted, is still in the hands of its citizens.
Written by Thomas Nussbaumer thomas.nussbaumer@alpineweekly.com