9.04 million people watched the big tattoo for the outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel on ZDF alone. And some looked very carefully.
Berlin – Angela Merkel is leaving her post as Federal Chancellor after 16 years. On Thursday (December 2nd) she was pompously bid farewell at the Great Zapfenstreich in the Bendler Block in Berlin. An unbelievable 9.04 million people watched the ceremony on ZDF alone. Some people were pissed off by a breakdown. And others took a closer look. And a bizarre thing is now going viral on Twitter. More than 1,100 retweets and more than 11,500 “likes” (as of December 3rd, 2:30 pm) were used for the following posting.
Big tattoo for Angela Merkel: She seems to show middle finger
The viewer discovered that at one point Angela Merkel seemed to be showing the middle finger with her left hand. Stinky fingers instead of a Merkel diamond! By the way, the screenshots are not fake – the scene is at 27:25 minutes to be seen in the ZDF recording.
Intention? Probably not. If your fingers are first of all freezing and secondly you want to be busy, then you sometimes make unusual movements. Especially since the position of her fingers was different again seconds later. Or was the gesture conscious? The Twitter user submits it to her. “Angela Merkel with one last big gesture to her people,” he writes.
Big tattoo for Angela Merkel: middle finger gesture causes laughter
Many others jump on the gag. “I grant her”, “Exit in style”, “It’s not as if Germany didn’t deserve it” and “Who could blame her?” It says in the comments. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she has retractable steel blades in her shoes to step after Seehofer and Scheuer,” says another.
Some see parallels with Darth Vader because of the gloves. And of course, the seated Merkel with her gloves also reminds some of another political giant who also defied the cold a few months ago: Bernie Sanders.
Big tattoo for Angela Merkel: outgoing Chancellor calls for the fight for democracy
Far away from the Twitter smileers, there were above all serious tones during the tattoo by the Chancellor. Angela Merkel called there to defend democracy against hatred, violence and misinformation. Wherever scientific knowledge is denied, conspiracy theories and agitation spread, contradictions must be heard, she said. “Our democracy also lives from the fact that wherever hatred and violence are seen as a legitimate means of pursuing our own interests, our tolerance as democrats has to find its limit.”
With the big tattoo, the Bundeswehr said goodbye to the CDU politician after 16 years in office. The ceremony is the highest honor of the armed forces and is reserved above all for federal presidents, chancellors and defense ministers. Most recently there was a major tattoo in front of the Reichstag building to end the Bundeswehr’s mission in Afghanistan.
Like everyone honored on this path, Merkel was allowed to choose three pieces of music. She wanted the hymn “Great God, we praise you” from the staff music corps, the chanson “For me it should rain red roses” by Hildegard Knef and the hit song “You forgot the color film” by Nina Hagen. The punk singer thus had a hit in the GDR in 1974. Merkel was studying physics in Leipzig at the time.
Big tattoo for Angela Merkel: outgoing Chancellor visibly touched
Merkel watched the big tattoo while seated and was visibly moved. Due to the corona, significantly fewer guests were able to take part than usual. Among the participants were Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the future Federal Chancellor-designate Olaf Scholz (SPD). In her speech before the actual ceremony, Merkel wished him and his government “all the best and a lucky hand and good luck”.
The Chancellor emphasized: “The 16 years as Federal Chancellor were eventful and often very challenging. You have challenged me politically and personally. And at the same time they have always fulfilled me. ”
Merkel recalled, among other things, the financial and economic crisis in 2008 and the refugee crisis in 2015. These already made it clear how much one is dependent on international cooperation across borders. “How indispensable international institutions and multilateral instruments are in order to be able to master the great challenges of our time – climate change, digitization, refugees and migration.”
Big tattoo for Angela Merkel: outgoing Chancellor also thanks her team and her family
“I would like to encourage people to always see the world through the eyes of the other in the future, too, so also to perceive the sometimes uncomfortable and contradicting perspectives of the other person, and to work to balance interests,” said Merkel. At the same time, she was “convinced that we can continue to shape the future well if we do not go to work with displeasure, resentment, with pessimism, but (…) with happiness in our hearts.” even kept it always.
Merkel also thanked her employees and her family for their support during the years of her chancellorship. She also remembered those who at the same moment “oppose the fourth wave of the pandemic with all their might”. Merkel named doctors, nurses, vaccination teams and helpers from the Bundeswehr and aid organizations. “My and all of us deserve special thanks and the highest appreciation to all of you.” The Merkel tattoo provoked an unusual reaction in El Salvador. (lin with dpa)
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