At the award ceremony for the German National Prize, Herbert Grönemeyer shared a handheld fan with Andreas Voßkuhle, the former president of the Federal Constitutional Court. The 70-year-old called for an optimistic outlook and acknowledged his responsibility toward younger generations. Society is “brimming with democratic, humanistic elements,” Grönemeyer said. He recalled the willingness of many people to take in refugees during the 2015 crisis.
At the same time, the musician leveled sharp criticism at the political class. Over the past two decades, leading politicians had barely spoken to the public. “Ms. Merkel remained silent, except for ‘We can do it,’ then silence again. Mr. Scholz copied the style, went one further, briefly spoke of the ‘Zeitenwende,’ then fell silent again,” Grönemeyer said. In his view, the current coalition is imitating the public squabbling of the previous traffic-light government instead of reaching compromises and clear results.
Grönemeyer used a football analogy to underscore his call for greater unity: national players like Felix Nmecha and Aleksandar Pavlović compete fiercely in the Bundesliga but, in the national jersey, work together to find the path to goal. “We want action, not gossip,” the musician said.
Source: www.spiegel.de
