Steinmeier’s speech has turned into a self-inflicted wound

Frank-Walter Steinmeier has once again managed to make the presidency look less like an institution and more like a stage prop. His latest speech is being described as a new low for his office, and the criticism goes beyond the usual irritation reserved for ceremonial overreach. The complaint is that the federal president has not only misjudged his role, but has also shown a worrying lack of understanding of the Basic Law and of the less pleasant side of the Federal Constitutional Court.

That is not a minor slip. The German presidency is supposed to stand above the day-to-day skirmishing of party politics, not wander into them with the confidence of a man who believes authority can be improvised. Yet that is precisely the impression Steinmeier has left behind here: a head of state speaking as though the office itself were a shield against criticism, rather than the very reason restraint matters.

The affair matters because it touches the core of how political institutions are judged. A president does not need to be entertaining, and certainly not self-important. He is expected to know the limits of the post he holds. When those limits blur, the result is not gravitas. It is a loss of credibility, which tends to be more expensive and much harder to repair.

The criticism levelled at Steinmeier is therefore not merely about style, though style has clearly not helped him. It is about substance: whether he understands the constitutional framework he is meant to embody, and whether he has any feel for the institutional balance that gives the office its legitimacy in the first place. The answer, at least according to his critics, is increasingly unflattering.

Germany has seen enough solemn speeches from its elites to know that moral posture is cheap. What is rarer, and more valuable, is a president who knows when to stop talking and start respecting the boundaries of the office. Steinmeier’s latest appearance suggests that lesson has still not been learned. For a presidency that depends so heavily on restraint, that is a rather awkward place to end up.

Written by Andreas Hofer andreas.hofer@alpineweekly.com