One could consider it a normal occurrence: the Federal President presents the former Chancellor with an award for her merits. But when Frank-Walter Steinmeier awards Angela Merkel the Grand Cross in a special version at Bellevue Palace on Monday evening, it is no routine act. On the contrary, it is a delicate matter.
The Grand Cross in a special design is the highest level of the Order of Merit that exists in Germany for heads of government and former chancellors. It has only been awarded twice in the history of the Federal Republic. If Steinmeier grants Merkel this honor, it will not only be about Merkel’s political legacy that will be discussed, but also about Steinmeier’s.
The Grand Cross was awarded in a special version for the first time in January 1954. Federal President Theodor Heuss honored Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer with it. That was at the beginning of his second term. Because several ministers of the federal government at that time had already been awarded the Grand Cross, the head of government should be honored more prominently than the cabinet members.
Is Merkel one of the great chancellors?
The Grand Cross was created in a special design. The special feature: The cross is decorated with a laurel wreath. The second Chancellor to receive it was Helmut Kohl. At the end of his 16-year tenure in 1998, he was presented with it by Roman Herzog. “Under your leadership, Mr. Chancellor, the reunification of our fatherland has been completed. You have thus completed the work begun by Konrad Adenauer,” said Herzog at the time.
Now Steinmeier has decided to give it to Merkel as well. He puts them in a row with Adenauer and Kohl. Even in the CDU, this is not undisputed. In a guest article for the Tagesspiegel, the head of the CDU Basic Values Commission, Andreas Rödder, described the award to Merkel as a mistake – the reason he gave was her Russia policy, her migration policy and the nuclear phase-out.
Merkel’s long-standing minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, also recently told the “Handelsblatt” newspaper that it was still too early to make a definitive assessment as to whether Merkel should be classified among the great chancellors such as Adenauer, Kohl or Willy Brandt.
Delicate: the question of self-criticism
Above all, Russia policy has overshadowed Merkel’s legacy since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. But she still doesn’t want to apologize for mistakes. They do not share the attitude of their critics, she said last in the “Zeit”. “I think it would be cheap to simply bow to it just because it is expected,” said Merkel.
She thought about it so much. “It would be an indictment if, just to have some peace and without really thinking like that, I would simply say: Oh, right, now I realize that that was wrong.” You could also do that indirectly Read criticism of Steinmeier.
Steinmeier was Foreign Minister under Merkel from 2005 to 2009 and from 2013 to 2017. Steinmeier had been much more self-critical in the past year: he misjudged Putin, and his adherence to Nord Stream 2 was also a mistake, he explained. Steinmeier stands like no other for German Russia policy.
When Steinmeier now awards his former boss Merkel the Grand Cross in a special version, he will be listened to very carefully at this point: Is Steinmeier addressing the question of self-criticism or ignoring it? But the question will also be interesting: What does Steinmeier highlight as the great merits of the former chancellor?
The CDU politician was able to invite 20 guests to the small ceremony with dinner. What is striking: Nobody from the current CDU leadership is on the guest list.
Merkel invited family members and a number of companions. Including her former chancellery minister Helge Braun, former interior minister Thomas de Maizière, former economics minister Peter Altmaier and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. But she also wanted to have confidants like the former Minister of Education Annette Schavan, Merkel’s office manager Beate Baumann, her former government spokesman Steffen Seibert and her long-standing media adviser Eva Christiansen. Former national coach Jürgen Klinsmann and East German civil rights activist Rainer Eppelmann are also on the invitation list.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz will also be there when Merkel is awarded the Grand Cross in a special version. For Merkel, the high honor, more than a year after the end of her term of office, can be a closing point.
