Bundestag Vice President Bodo Ramelow (The Left Party) has called for a new German national anthem and a vote on the colors of the federal flag. Ramelow justified his proposal by saying that many people feel uncomfortable with these national symbols. However, the proposal was met with fierce criticism from other parties.
He knows many East Germans who “do not sing along to the national anthem for many reasons,” Ramelow told the Rheinische Post newspaper on Friday. In addition, there is a “strangeness” associated with the black, red, and gold flag.
As an alternative to the national anthem “Unity, Justice, and Freedom,” the Left Party politician proposed Bertolt Brecht's “Children's Anthem.” “The Children's Anthem has wonderful lyrics. With the passage about a better Germany flourishing, we could find access to a pan-German anthem that we could all sing together with joy,” Ramelow said.
The left-wing politician also called for a vote on the flag of the Federal Republic of Germany. “I know that black, red, and gold represent the rejection of totalitarian structures. But many people are also uncomfortable with the national flag,” said the former Thuringian prime minister. Ramelow believes there is a way to implement his proposal that is enshrined in the Basic Law. “I would like to put all this to a vote in accordance with Article 146, which states that the Basic Law shall cease to be valid as soon as a new constitution, freely decided upon by the German people, comes into force,” he said.
CDU Secretary General Carsten Linnemann strongly opposed a debate on the national anthem. “Our flag and our anthem stand for our democracy, our fundamental rights, and our constitutional state. Anyone who feels uncomfortable with them has a problem with the free democratic basic order of our country,” he told the “Rheinische Post.”
Linnemann accused Ramelow of instigating a “culture war.” Bundestag President Julia Klöckner and Saxony's Minister President Michael Kretschmer (both CDU) also opposed his proposal in Berlin's Tagesspiegel newspaper. Green Party politician Katrin Göring-Eckardt also spoke of a “symbolic debate” in the Tagesspiegel. The AfD criticized Ramelow's proposal as “unrealistic and bizarre.” AfD deputy leader Stephan Brandner said it was “superfluous summer slump talk.” AfD politician Götz Frömming spoke of a “frontal attack on the heart of our national identity.”
Article 146 was originally included in the Basic Law by its authors to enable the reunification of Germany, which was divided at the time. It states that the Basic Law shall cease to be valid as soon as a constitution is adopted by the German people in a free decision. However, this article was not used during reunification in 1990. Instead, the GDR joined the Federal Republic and thus also the scope of the Basic Law – in accordance with Article 23 of the Basic Law.
The German anthem “Unity, Justice, and Freedom” was written by Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, with music by Joseph Haydn. It first became the national anthem during the Weimar Republic. Since 1952, the third verse of the song has been the national anthem of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The national colors of black, red, and gold have stood for a free Germany since the 19th century. In the revolutionary year of 1848, the Frankfurt National Assembly chose black, red, and gold as the colors of the flag of the German Confederation. Politically, these colors also stand in contrast to the colors black, white, and red, which were used by the German Empire and Nazi Germany.
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